Introduction
Even before they begin to study the Holocaust many students have well formed (but largely inaccurate) ideas about how it happened. Commonly this translates into strongly-held beliefs about the kinds of people who killed, who ‘stood-by’, and who tried to help. While these notions help to ‘make sense’ of the Holocaust, they also oversimplify the realities of the historical events.
In this lesson, students uncover through a range of detailed case studies how and why ordinary people became complicit in mass murder. In so doing, they are left with searching questions about what it is to be a citizen in the modern world.