Understanding the Holocaust is critical for young adults. If you really understand and appreciate the magnitude of what Hitler and his Nazi regime did, you will be better prepared to make sure that it doesn't happen again! Listed below are a few projects that you can do for Holocaust awareness. If you have any questions, need help, or just need more ideas, e-mail me!
Yom Hashoah Remembrance:
This is a great project to do on Yom Hashoah, which this year falls on Friday, May 2, 2008. Click here for a list of all the upcoming Yom Hashoah dates. Here's what you do: Organize a group of friends/classmates and take turns reading the names of victims. This is a great way to honor the dead, and a great way to help people learn more about the Holocaust. You are guaranteed to get questions about what you are doing! For a list of names, I suggest visiting Yad Vashem's website and searching for the names there. Click on the Database page for instructions on how to use Yad Vashem!
Trace Their Steps:
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has activities for understanding the Holocaust on their website. One in particular allows you to trace the steps of four passenger's aboard the fated ship St. Louis that sailed from Hamburg, Germany to the US in 1939. You must use your reasearch skills to determine the fate of the victims. Click here to view the activity.
Tell Their Story:
Imagine that you are a journalist during World War II. You've just witnessed the terrible things the Nazis are doing to Jews and other social undesirables. Write an article for your newspaper or magazine explaining what you saw. Use examples of actual people: read a biography on an individual that you found from one of the databases and help the world understand what the Nazis are doing through the voice of your victim.
Find A Survivor:
Find a survivor of the Holocaust and interview them. If you need help finding a survivor, contact the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and ask for them to help you locate survivors in your area. Once you've found the person you will interview, meet with your teacher to develop ideas for questions to ask them. If you can and if they are willing, video tape or record the interview for future generations. The survivors of the Holocaust are getting very old, and soon there will be no one left that was an eyewitness. Your interview will help insure that people don't forget.
Genocide:
Unfortunately, the world did not fully learn the lesson of the Holocaust. In places around the world, people are still being killed for their religious beliefs, ethnicity, and other social differences. Find other places where genocide was recently carried out, or where it is happening today. Some places that are obvious are Darfur and Chechniya. Look for other places as well. Create a presentation on genocide and inform your peers about what they can do to prevent it. Help others understand what is happening today by your study of what happened in the past. Genocide Today
Teachers: Click here for an article on how to teach the Holocaust from the United State Holocaust Memorial Museum.
