About this lesson

Even before they begin to study many students have strongly-held beliefs about the kinds of people who killed, who ‘stood-by’, and who tried to help. These notions can oversimplify the realities.

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.

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Lesson plan – Being human

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Personal stories – Being human

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