Holocaust(s)?
An Internet Sampler on Holocaust

Created by Daniel Bancroft
Harrisville Central School

Introduction | Internet Activities | Conclusion | HyperText Dictionary

 


Introduction

The purpose of this Web page is to give the student a sampling of resources that document different holocausts and genocides. Each of the seven resources linked to this Web page has an assignment associated with it. After examining the web sites and completing the associated assignments, the student will write a 500 word essay in which they will address the following questions:

1) Who can genocide occur to?
2) Where can genocide occur?
3) When can genocide occur?
4) Whose responsibility is it to stop genocide from occurring?

Warning: Some of the photographs are extremely graphic. Viewer discretion is advised.

Internet Activities

U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Activity I:

1.      Click On: Online Exhibitions, Hidden History of Kovno Ghetto, Continue, Continue, Introduction (hidden at top of screen). Read the introduction and examine the rest of the website.

2.      As you examine the website, briefly describe the contents of each of the following sections:

a.      Invasion.

b.     Mass Murder.

c.     Ghettoization.

d.      Inside the Ghetto.

e.      Secret Archives.

f.        Final Days.

Rwanda

Activity II:

 

Click On: Introduction.

1.      Read the introduction (Yes-all of it!) and then go back to the main index.

2.      Skim for files that look interesting. Do not attempt to examine every file in this website. Choose any five files and skim them.

3.      For each file you selected, list three facts that were presented.

Armenia

Activity III:

 

Click On: Survivor and Eyewitness Accounts/Anne Smith's Family Story.

1.      Read Anne Smith's account of the experiences her family endured.

2.      Why was Anne Smith concerned about her cousins and sisters becoming Americanized?

3.       Why did Anne think it was necessary to put her story on the Internet?

Native American

Activity IV:

1.      Read the introduction to the website entitled 'American Holocaust'.

2.      According to the author of this website, some people object to the use of the term 'Holocaust' being applied to the history of U.S. treatment toward its own indigenous people.

3.      Summarize the author's point of view and conclude with your own opinion.

Cambodia

Activity V:

1.      Click On: Cambodian Killing Fields and then Next (7 times).

2.      Read the section entitled “Killing Fields”.

3.      How did Pol Pot gain power and how did he maintain it throughout his regime?

4.      Do you think that Pol Pot had planned everything from the beginning or do you think that his good intentions went horribly wrong? Support your answer with details from the web site.

Balkans

Activity VI:

1.      Read the introductory text and examine the various photo essays.

2.      Write a short story about a day in the life of an imaginary Serbian child living in Kosovo.

a.      Be sure to use all you know about short stories that you learned in English class.

                                                              i.      Character development.

                                                            ii.      Plot.

                                                          iii.       Setting.

                                                         iv.      Focus especially on character development and setting.

3.      This assignment will count as two English 10 grades and two Global Studies 10 grades.

Ukraine

Activity VII:

1.      Read this website and examine the photographs.

2.      Summarize the author's point of view concerning the famine in the Ukraine.

3.      Do you agree with the author’s point of view?  Why or why not?

 Conclusion Activity VIII:

Now that you have completed each of the above activities, we come to the BIG QUESTION. What is the most important message for humanity that can be learned from an examination of these Web resources? Write a two-page essay in which you address the following questions:

1) Whom can genocide occur to?
2) Where can genocide occur?
3) When can genocide occur?
4) Whose responsibility is it to stop genocide from occurring?