April 2001: Remembering the Holocaust   In step with Holocaust Remembrance Month, check out these interdisciplinary activity ideas and online resources for your classroom. Return in May for ideas relating to Inventions!  IdahoPTV Programs to Watch HUMAN RIGHTS: YOUTH PERSPECTIVES Thursday, April 5 1:00 a.m./12:00 midnight - 3:00/2:00 a.m. MT/PT   This four-part series links the study of past human rights violations — the Holocaust, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II  — to combating racism here in Idaho. An international group of students gathers to debate global issues involving human rights. In Coeur d’Alene, students and community members form a Human Rights Club to counter aggressive activities of hate groups in the community. [Record this program and use it in the classroom for the life of the tape.] SCHINDLER'S LIST Thursday, April 19 at 8:00 p.m. MT/PT Repeats Saturday, April 21 at 9:00/8:00 p.m. MT/PT Warning Contains graphic depictions of war atrocities including violence, extreme cruelty, nudity and strong language. Steven Spielberg’s SCHINDLER’S LIST airs in recognition of Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 19. Based on the book by Thomas Keneally, the film tells the story of devastation, genocide and triumph of the faith of one human being.  It is a story of survival during one of the darkest periods in recorded human history and demonstrates how one individual can change things. Oskar Schindler, a Nazi party member, saved the lives of more than 1,100 Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Holocaust. [Use under Fair Use guidelines.] LIBERATION OF THE SPIRIT: THE JOURNEY OF MAGDA WATTS  Monday, April 23 at 10:00 p.m. MT/PT   A triumphant story about the power of creativity and the strength of the human spirit, LIBERATION OF THE SPIRIT profiles Holocaust survivor Magda Watts' personal journey back to the Nazi death camps of Poland. From her happy childhood in Hungary to the traumatic horrors of Auschwitz to the ultimate catharsis of her return, the program gives voice to Watts' desire to refute revisionist claims that the Holocaust never happened. [Use in the classroom for one year from taping, with IdahoPTV's Extended Copyright for Educators.]   A SCULPTURE OF LOVE AND ANGUISH Tuesday, April 24 at 10:30 p.m. MT/PT Repeats Thursday, April 5 at 1:00 a.m./midnight MT/PT The Miami Holocaust Memorial tells the story of Miami's memorial to the six million Jewish victims of the holocaust. It reveals the creative process behind the memorial and the artistry that went into designing and forging the sculptures. Teaching Ideas Daring to Resist: A Play in Five Acts  Many people know that the Holocaust claimed millions of victims. Although millions of people suffered terribly during their time in concentration camps and prisons, they did not sit passively without resisting. Their individual and collective efforts to survive were a major part of their lives, and often were acts of great risk and heroism.  Ask students to think about the words "survivor" and "victim." What does each mean, and what is the difference between the two, if any? What does it mean to be a victim of a terrible crime, versus being a survivor? Can you be a victim and a survivor at the same time? Explain that the purpose of the lesson is to evaluate how victims of the Holocaust attempted to survive, and how they resisted the situation at the time. Organize students into five groups, and let a leader pick a form of resistance out of a hat or bowl:   Death Camp Revolts Ghetto Revolts White Rose Yad Vashem (What is it, and how did these people contribute to acts of resistance during the Holocaust?) Resistance at work and in factories  In 3-4 minute role plays, each student group should act out or demonstrate how Jews and other persecuted peoples used a certain form of resistance against their oppressors during the Holocaust.  Students will want to start with general search engines such as Yahoo.com and Infoseek as well as the following Web sites to research their assigned form of resistance: Transcripts to read from the PBS "Daring to Resist" broadcast http://www.pbs.org/daringtoresist/tgtranscript.html Cybrary of the Holocaust http://remember.org United States Holocaust Memorial Museum http://www.ushmm.org Museum of Jewish Heritage http://www.mjhnyc.org/home.htm Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies http://www.library.yale.edu/testimonies/homepage.html Yad Veshem: the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority http://www.yad-vashem.org.il The Holocaust History Project Homepage http://www.holocaust-history.org The Holocaust: How Could It Happen? Many studies of the Holocaust concentrate on the atrocities that occurred. Students may have an awareness that it happened, but they should also develop an understanding of the political, economic, and social causes that let to the events of the Holocaust. Creating a timeline of events from 1936-1945 will help students identify, illustrate, explain, and interpret the causes and progression of events that led to the Holocaust.  Students will work in small groups to create a life-size timeline on large poster paper or newsprint sheets. Each large blank sheet should represent one year, and that year will be written in large bold print on the top, starting with 1936. Student will work in their groups to decorate their year sheet with: pictures (photographs or drawings), slogans, artwork, poems, copies or re-created newspaper clippings, and other memorabilia. Encourage students to research the important events of that year and think it terms of people and their ideas, the government, and the economy. When student groups are finished with their posters, they will be hung on a wall in the classroom or hallway, in consecutive years to create the timeline. Here are some Web sites to get students started on their research: AmEx: America and the Holocaust http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/holocaust/ Daring To Resist: Three Women Face The Holocaust http://www.pbs.org/daringtoresist/ Frontline: Shtetl http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shtetl// People's Century: Master Race http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/peoplescentury/episodes/masterrace/index.html Extension:  Have each student group present and explain their timeline year to the class as a whole.  Evaluate student's on their understanding of the political, economic, and social causes of the Holocaust, by answering the lesson's question with an essay or a letter to people in the future: The Holocaust happened because..."  PBS Online Resources: Sites to See     The American Experience: America and the Holocaust http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/holocaust/tguide/index.html Explore anti-Semitism in America during the '30s and '40s and official U.S. government response to the Holocaust during World War II. Also, draw comparisons to hate crimes and ethnic cleansing taking place today. This site also includes a teachers guide, timelines, maps, letters, interviews, biographies, and more. Daring To Resist: Three Women Face The Holocaust http://www.pbs.org/daringtoresist/teachersguide.html Through the life stories of Barbara Ledermann, Faye Schulman and Shulamit (Shula) Lack, learn about the experiences of Jews who resisted the Nazis, and understand resistance movements taking place around the world today. The site includes study questions, activities, a timeline, and biographical information for the three women featured.  Frontline: Shtetl http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shtetlguide/ On November 8, 1942, Nazi soldiers rounded up the Jews living in a shtetl, a small village, in Bransk, Poland; within a day's time, more than 2,500 villagers died in Treblinka's gas chambers. Explore the nature of shtetl community life before the Nazi invasion, Polish-Jewish relations prior to World War II, and learn more about Treblinka, through articles, timelines, interviews, and a teachers guide.  The Trial of Adolf Eichmann http://www.pbs.org/eichmann/study.htm Investigate war crimes, international justice, national sovereignity, and individual responsibility through the lens of Eichmann's deeds during World War II. This site includes a teacher's guide, a timeline, Eichmann's writings and testimony, court records, and more. NOVA: Nazi Designers of Death http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachersguide/nazi/index.html Learn how historians and investigators use blueprints, photographs, and other primary source documents to establish the scope of the Nazi's plans for genocide in Europe. Read "The Selection" by Elie Weisel and get a firsthand account of life in Auschwitz. People's Century: Master Race http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/peoplescentury/teachers/tgmaster.html Learn more about Kristallnacht and anti-Semitism in Europe in the decades preceding World War II. This site includes a teacher's guide, interviews, submission area, and program description.  Note: For a complete listing of related PBS Web sites (those with online content related to the Holocaust, but not necessarily teacher's guides) please see the listing of Holocaust Resources on PBS.org.