Teaching about Antisemitism

The purpose of this activity is to help students learn about Holocaust denial and hate speech. In order to do so, students will divide into groups and research one interviewee from the Museum’s Voices on Antisemitism series in-depth and present their research to the class using one of the options listed below.

Following an international meeting of Holocaust deniers in Tehran in 2006, Iranian exile Ladan Boroumand published a statement deploring the fact that denial of the Holocaust has become a propaganda tool for Iran's leaders today. Learn more »

When Holocaust denier David Irving sued Deborah Lipstadt for libel in a British court, she experienced what she called "the world of difference between reading about antisemitism and hearing it up close and personal." Learn more »

In his book Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead, Frank Meeink describes with brutal honesty his descent into bigotry and violence as a teenage neo-Nazi. Through some surprising personal encounters, Meeink came to reject his beliefs and become an advocate for tolerance and diversity. Learn more »

Errol Morris makes documentaries that investigate the past, focusing on small details and questioning why people do what they do. In his film Mr. Death, Morris looks closely at Fred Leuchter, an engineer who became an expert witness to Holocaust deniers. Learn more »

As Germany's Justice Minister, Brigitte Zypries is responsible for upholding justice, rights, and democracy in her country. Zypries explains why her government passed a law making Holocaust denial a criminal offense and why that law is important. Learn more »

Methodology

• Divide students into groups.
• Assign a podcast episode to each group.
• Each group will research the person assigned to them, paying close attention to what he or she is doing to combat Holocaust denial or hate speech.
• Students should consider who the individual is, where he or she was born, where this person lives now, what his or her motivation is in combating Holocaust denial or hate speech and what methods this person uses to carry out his or her work.
• Once the groups have gathered the necessary information, they should present what they have learned about the individual assigned to them using any of the methods below:
  
  • Design a poster on the person including information on who he or she is and how this person is combating Holocaust denial or hate speech.
  • Write a newspaper article “reporting” on the individual and what he or she is doing to fight Holocaust denial or hate speech.
  • Create a profile on a Web site instructing others how to combat Holocaust denial or hate speech using the methods the individual has described.
  • Simulate a press conference.

Recommended Research Resources

• Library Web Links
  
  (Online resources related to Holocaust denial and revisionism.)

• Holocaust Encyclopedia articles:
• Antisemitism
• Evidence from the Holocaust
• Combating Holocaust Denial: Evidence of the Holocaust presented at Nuremberg
• Combating Holocaust Denial: Origins of Holocaust Denial
• Holocaust Deniers and Public Misinformation
• Incitement to Genocide in International Law

• Anti-Defamation League
  
  (Fights antisemitism and all forms of bigotry in the U.S.)
• Holocaust Denial on Trial
  
  (Web site devoted to combating Holocaust denial; hosted by Emory University.)
• Nizkor Project
  
  (An Internet project dedicated to countering Holocaust denial.)