Guidelines for Teaching the Holocaust

The Many Layers of the Holocaust

Introduction: Define the Holocaust
Use the USHMM definition of the Holocaust to begin your unit.

Ask the students to record one question that they have about the Holocaust on the handout and then post these questions in the room, checking them off as you answer them.

Layer 1: Translate Statistics into People
On your own, read through your id card, answering the questions on your handout about the person.

2. In your group, share which victim group your person belonged to and which country he/she was from. Record this information in the chart on the back of the handout.
What patterns do you notice with the id cards on the timeline?

Types of VictimsJewishGypsyJehovahs WitnessHandicapped

NationalityPolandAustriaFranceYugoslaviaGermanyAustriaGreece

Layer 2: Avoid simple answers to complex questions
In your group, deal out the Berlin law cards until they are all gone.

2. On your own, read through your cards and answer the questions on the handout about them.

3. In your group, read all of your laws aloud and share which one you chose as the most surprising or unreasonable.
What patterns do you notice with the Berlin Laws on the timeline?

Layer 3: Do not romanticize history.
In your group, distribute the events cards and then find the dates on The Road to the Final Solution handout.

2. Take turns reading the information about each event, including captions of pictures.

How do the historical events explain the patterns on the timeline?

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