Research tells us that students commonly lack secure knowledge and understanding of what happened to the various victim groups targeted during the period of the Third Reich. As a result, they tend to presume that everyone was the victim of the same thing and cannot identify what was specific about the policies enacted against different groups. This is particularly true for students’ understanding of what happened to the Jews of Europe, where students commonly struggle to articulate what was distinctive about the Jewish experience.

This classroom material provides teachers with the means to address these shortcomings. By using this resource, students’ knowledge and understanding of what happened, to whom, where and when is deepened and enriched as they learn about the Holocaust and other victims of Nazi persecution.