Course

HIST-317/HIST-400

Document Type

Student Paper

Publication Date

Spring 2020

Disciplines

Curriculum and Instruction | Curriculum and Social Inquiry | European History | Holocaust and Genocide Studies | Secondary Education

Description, Abstract, or Artist's Statement

In this paper, I analyze how the National Socialists ostracized the Jews before the start of World War II. I also discuss the importance of teaching students about this topic in US schools in a way that promotes historical inquiry, historical empathy, and critical thinking skills. There is an attached lesson plan that I did with 6th-grade students to provide an example of one way to teach students about the Holocaust. Here is my thesis for the paper:

"By examining laws passed by the Reichstag, the organization of the ghettos and the camps, the German education system, correspondence between top National Socialist leaders, and speeches given by Adolf Hitler and other leaders, the systematic murder of millions of Jewish people can be seen as an intentional process that was at the forefront of the National Socialists policy decisions that began with the exclusion of German Jews well before 1941."

Comments

1st Place Winner, 2020