Develop knowledge and understanding:
To deepen student knowledge and challenge common misunderstandings, in this chapter they will learn:
- How the geographic expansion of Nazi Germany affected Jewish people.
- How Jewish people responded to discrimination.
- About key historical events, such as the Anschluss and Kristallnacht.
- The challenges faced by Jewish people trying to leave Germany in the 1930s.
Challenge myths and misconceptions:
Here is a summary of the key myths and misconceptions that we identified in our research and that we are aiming to challenge through this textbook chapter content and its supporting materials:
- Kristallnacht is not a word associated with the Holocaust
Should you choose to share these with students it is very important to be clear that these are false statements and they need to be taught about with sensitivity and skill.
Access the research briefing that is relevant to this textbook chapter content here:
Research briefing 3: An unfolding genocide
Support for in chapter activities:
Support for Think About p.41: ‘Why might historians describe Kristallnacht as a turning point?’
Resource sheet 3.2.1 contains additional source materials to support students in answering this Think About question (p.41).
DOWNLOAD: Resource sheet 3.2.1
Support for Think About p.42: ‘Does the international community have a responsibility towards refugees?’
https://www.hmd.org.uk/resource/refugees-are-people-learn-from-their-experiences/
Use this website link to access some useful resources to help your students to explore this Think About question (p.42).
Suggested activities:
Further enquiry – The immediate aftermath of Kristallnacht:
Use the case studies on resource sheet 3.2.2 to give further context to Figure 3.8 ‘Roll call at the Buchenwald concentration camp for newly arrived prisoners, mostly Jews arrested during Kristallnacht; Germany, 1938’.
DOWNLOAD: Resource sheet 3.2.2
Additional resources for students
To find out more about how Jewish people were affected by the creation of ‘Greater Germany’, students can undertake further research using these recommended websites:
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/kristallnacht
https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/life-in-nazi-occupied-europe/oppression/kristallnacht/
https://www.wienerlibrary.co.uk/Refugee-Voices
Additional resources for teachers:
Further reading materials:
Cesarani, D. (2016) Final Solution: The fate of the Jews 1933 – 49. Macmillan.
Kershaw, I. (2008) Hitler, the Germans and the Final Solution. Yale University Press.
Rees, L. (2005) The Nazis: A Warning from History. BBC Books.