What are the common myths and misconceptions about the Holocaust?
A series of short films presented by Stephen Feinberg, from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, explore the myths and misconceptions about the Nazi period and the Holocaust that students may bring with them to the classroom.
‘Hitler did everything in the Holocaust’
‘Hitler was part Jewish’
‘Hitler was a latent homosexual’
Download video one
‘Hitler was elected leader of Germany’
‘Hitler survived the war’
‘All Nazis were monsters’
‘All Germans were Nazis/ all Germans were perpetrators’
‘The Nazi state was absolutely totalitarian’
Download video two
‘Nazi euphemisms reflect reality’
‘You can teach the Holocaust through a study of Jews and Judaism’
‘Only Jews were victims of Nazi crimes’
Download video three
‘Jews did not resist the Nazis’
‘The king of Denmark/ the Danish people donned the yellow star in solidarity with their Jewish citizens’
‘All camps were alike’ (part 1)
Download video four
‘All camps were alike’ (part 2)
‘Every concentration camp had a tattooing system and all inmates at all camps were tattooed’
‘The Nazis routinely made soap out of human fat and lampshades out of human skin’
‘You can study the war separately from the Holocaust’
‘The Nazis lost the war because too many resources were diverted to implementing the Holocaust’
Download video five
‘I already know all about the Holocaust because I have read The Diary of Anne Frank or Night by Elie Wiesel’
Download video six