Unit 1 – Before the Holocaust

Unit One covers the history of Jews in Europe before the Holocaust. Specifically, students explore the appeal of the Nazis, particularly to youth, and how individuals are changed by outside influences.

The causes of the Holocaust reach back farther in time than the beginning of the Nazi era. It is not as if anti-Judaism or antisemitism was an invention of Hitler and the Nazi Party. The purpose of this unit is to briefly examine the long history that came before the Nazi era to discover the deep roots of the Holocaust. This is not meant to be a detailed history, but to provide a foundation upon which students can begin to construct a conceptual framework.

1 – Unit Plan – Before the Holocaust-Jewish Life in Europe and the Rise of Nazism in Germany

1a – Notes for Teachers

1b – Essential Questions

1c – Connections to the Florida Holocaust Education Mandate

1d – Main Learning Goals and Scales

1e – Supporting Standards and Benchmarks

1f – Summative Assessment and Final Performance Tasks

1g – Unit Vocabulary

1h – Common Misperceptions

1i – Lessons within this Unit

Unit 1 Daily Lessons

1) Camera of My Family

2) Using Maps

3) The Appeal of the Nazis – The Wave

4) A Primary Source from Nazi Germany – The Appeal of the Nazis