Personal Identity through the Lens of the Holocaust: What Rights Are Most Important to Me?

GRADE LEVEL: High School

Overview

Studying the rise of the Nazi Party requires students to reflect on the importance of preserving and protecting democratic values and institutions and consider their role as a responsible citizen in that process. The breakdown of democracy in Germany between 1933 and 1939 led to the unfolding of anti-Jewish policies. These policies, legislation and propaganda induced terror in Germany and isolated German Jewry from German society. Through the lens of the Holocaust, students will consider the rights that they have, and consider how losing those freedoms might impact their personal identities.

In this activity, students will:

• Consider the importance of protecting democratic values and institutions, and their role as responsible citizens in this process.
• Identify the historical events that allowed for a dramatic change in social policies in Germany between 1933 and 1939.
• Consider the importance of their own rights and examine how the Jewish population of Germany experienced the erosion of these rights.