January 27: Holocaust Remembrance Day

From the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:

The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a time to remember the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution.

As we are witnessing an alarming rise of antisemitism around the globe, it is more important than ever for us to recognize the critical lessons of Holocaust history as we commemorate the victims and honor the survivors.

“We are living at a time when antisemitism is at its highest level since World War II, whether it is the attacks in Israel, hateful rhetoric on American college campuses, or vandalism at Holocaust monuments. And what we are seeing is that violence against Jews is once again being justified and explained rather than condemned and combatted.”

“Today, we honor the memory of the Holocaust by working together to counter the hateful attitudes and behaviors that allowed the world to stand by as six million Jews were murdered.”

– Dr. Robert J. Williams, USC Shoah Foundation Finci-Viterbi Executive Director 

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must–at that moment–become the center of the universe.”

– Elie Wiesel, The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, The Accident

We hope to do justice, to the best of our ability, to this Holocaust Remembrance Day. Last year Elie Wiesel’s quote was taken down off the wall of CB South (Librarian says he was told to remove poster of Holocaust survivor’s quote for violating Central Bucks ‘advocacy’ policy) We want to treat with reverence this and every Holocaust Remembrance Day. We know CB can do better.

The first step, perhaps the most important, is to know WHY we must face the awful truths of the Holocaust. It’s uncomfortable to the point of horror to learn what happened at Auschwitz and the other camps, to learn that Hitler was largely successful in exterminating Polish Jewry, in the sickening numbers of dead, and in the stories of individuals who endured this hate-based violence and cruelty.

We hear from people who fear discomfort about many historical events. They appear to believe that it’s better for our children to grow up ignorant of state-sponsored tragedy or genocide.

We disagree. We know that Elie Wiesel is right. Ignorance and silence help the oppressor. 

We must face what happened at the death camps because it helps us to prevent such crimes against humanity from happening again.

We must learn and acknowledge that Nazi hatred extended toward many groups: disabled people, Romani people, gay people.

Supremacy spreads. It cannot be contained. It is like a cancer.

To learn about Nazi supremacy is to learn how to prevent the metastasis of the cancers of hatred we see in the world today. And make no mistake: we see many tumors of hatred against many groups, including what some have called an “unprecedented rise in antisemitism.”

So we learn about the Holocaust to guard against it ever happening again, to our ever- scapegoated Jewish friends and family, or to anyone of any group. We become the medicine that cures the body politic. Unlike chemotherapy or radiation, the cure for the cancer of supremacy strengthens ALL of society. When we learn about the horrors and we commit to whatever it takes to prevent them, we make a healthier, stronger society for ALL people.

The second step is to know HOW we can recognize, stand up to, and ultimately prevent such hatred from rising. The answer of course is comprehensive EDUCATION! Take for example, Facing History and Ourselves, a well-known, innovative research-based organization that uses lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate.

This resource, perhaps new to many of us, is well known by many of our CB educators and longtime education advocates. Specifically, many CB social studies teachers have suggested comprehensive resources like this one for many years, to an unreceptive audience. But with a new board and a changing climate, we think the time is ripe for another look.

We thought we’d share two examples of minicourses as a way for our community to get a better understanding of the kind of solutions that could help us combat antisemitism and all forms of hate and bigotry:

Brave Classrooms: Taking on Antisemitism in Schools
(designed for 6th–12th grade world history, US history, humanities, and English language arts teachers, school leaders, and curriculum specialists)

Schools and teachers are increasingly reporting acts of physical and verbal violence connected to antisemitism. This hatred is not new and has a long and “convenient” history. How can we prepare students to recognize and confront this hateful ideology? As educators, how can we ensure that our classrooms are safe for those students threatened by antisemitism at school—and that we don’t inadvertently tolerate, perpetuate or exacerbate this harm? 

For over two thousand years Jews and Jewish communities have been stereotyped and discriminated against, exiled, and violently attacked based on a wide range of false and dangerous accusations. This mini-course will look at the history and evolution of this hateful ideology and present steps to help students stand up against this form of hatred and bigotry.

During this mini-course, we will:

• Explore how social divisions create “the other”

• Explore the ancient and contemporary stereotypes of Jews

• Explore different methods of combating contemporary antisemitism in schools

Here is another example seminar in critical thinking, empathy and democratic values:

Teaching Holocaust and Human Behaviour 

Join us for a one-day workshop to learn about Facing History’s approach to teaching the Holocaust, which supports students in developing as empathetic, critical thinkers, who understand their role in sustaining democracy and upholding democratic values.   

Teachers will:

• Learn current scholarship on the history of the Holocaust and new research focused on human behaviour, group dynamics, and bias;

• Increase their ability to facilitate respectful classroom discussions on difficult issues such as racism, antisemitism, and other forms of exclusion in a way that invites personal reflection and critical analysis;

• Learn a new way of structuring curriculum to help students connect history to their own lives and the choices they make;

• Engage with classroom-ready multimedia resources and learn how to build a customized unit that meets your curriculum objectives;

• Discover new teaching strategies that help students interrogate text, think critically, and discuss controversial issues respectfully.

This seminar is intended for secondary school teachers who are looking for different ways to teach the Holocaust and other challenging materials to their students, and is designed to give you an in-depth understanding of our pedagogy. Designed for History, RS, Citizenship and English teachers, it will provide classroom-ready materials and resources for Key Stages 3 and 4, including PowerPoint lessons.

 Independent evaluation has shown that implementing Facing History’s approach improves students’ critical thinking skills, increases students’ ability and confidence to participate in community action, and increases students’ tolerance for others who hold contrary views from their own.

Film is another powerful medium for teaching as well.

A new documentary, “UnBroken” tells the true story of the daughter of a Holocaust survivor discovering how her mother and her six siblings escaped Nazi Germany.

Beth Lane, the film’s creator: “The antisemitism that is prevalent in the world today is frightening,” she said. “I want people to walk away trying to remember their own humanity and understanding what their responsibilities are as a human. It is a privilege to be a human being. Even in 2023, we have so many resources and beauty at our fingertips. How are we going to employ them to make the world a better place?”  

What do you think, dear reader? How can we support our teachers in handling difficult, important matters with care and tact? We’re curious if you have any ideas to share. How do you suggest combatting and rejecting hate in all its forms? How would you like it handled in the schools?

We leave you with Elie Wiesel talking about fighting indifference.

Never forget. Never falter in creating a more just, equitable, truthful, inclusive, diverse world.