The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has identified topic areas for you to consider while planning a course of study on the Holocaust. We recommend that you introduce your students to these topics even if you have limited time to teach about the Holocaust. An introduction to the topic areas is essential for providing students with a sense of the breadth of the history of the Holocaust.
1933-1939
Dictatorship under the Third Reich
Early Stages of Persecution
The First Concentration Camps
1939-1945
World War II in Europe
Murder of the Disabled (Euthanasia Program)
Persecution and Murder of Jews
Ghettos
Mobile Killing Squads (Einsatzgruppen)
Expansion of the Concentration Camp System
Killing Centers
Additional Victims of Nazi Persecution
Jewish Resistance and Non-Jewish Resistance
Rescue
United States
Death Marches
Liberation
POST-1945
Postwar Trials
Displaced Persons Camps and Emigration
In addition to these core topic areas, we recommend that, in your courses, you provide context for the events of the Holocaust by including information about antisemitism, Jewish life in Europe before the Holocaust, the aftermath of World War I, and the Nazi rise to power.
Online Workshop—Teaching about the Holocaust »
Online Workshop—The Holocaust and Victims of Nazi Persecution »
Online Workshop—Personal Testimony »
Sample Lessons »
Mapping the Holocaust »
Personal Histories »
Teaching about the Holocaust »
USC Shoah Foundation—Segments for the Classroom (external link) »
