Teaching about Antisemitism

The purpose of this activity is to help students learn about propaganda and media. 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.

Alan Dershowitz is concerned over what he views as a rising tide of antisemitic speech on American college campuses. Learn more »

In 1936, Margaret Lambert was poised to win a medal at the Berlin Olympic Games. Just one month before the Olympics began, Lambert was informed by the Reich Sports Office that she would not be allowed to compete. Learn more »

In examining how the New York Times could have missed—or dismissed—the significance of the annihilation of Europe's Jews, Laurel Leff found many universal lessons for contemporary journalists. Learn more »

In 1996, David Pilgrim established the Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University in Michigan. As the university's Chief Diversity Officer and a professor of sociology, one of Pilgrim's goals is to use objects of intolerance to teach about tolerance. Learn more »

After reporting on extremism for many years, Mark Potok decided to move from journalism to activism. Today, he directs the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, which tracks hate groups in the United States. 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 how this person, or the person they speak of, has been affected by propaganda.
• Students should consider who the individual is, where he or she was born, where the person lives now, what his or her motivation is in speaking about propaganda and media, 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 he or she has been affected by propaganda.
  • Write a newspaper article “reporting” on the individual, how he or she has been affected by propaganda, and how this person is working to keep propaganda at bay.
  • Based on this person's experiences, create a Web site instructing others on how to deconstruct propaganda.

Recommended Research Resources

• Nazi Propaganda and Censorship
  
  (Condensed overview of Nazi propaganda and censorship from the Museum’s The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students.)
• State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda Online Exhibition
  
  (Reveals how the Nazi Party used modern techniques as well as new technologies and carefully crafted messages to sway millions with its vision for a new Germany.)

• Holocaust Encyclopedia articles:
• Antisemitism
• Assessing Guilt
• Writing the News
• Deceiving the Public
• Defining the Enemy
• Making a Leader
• Nazi Propaganda
• Rallying the Nation
• Culture in the Third Reich: Disseminating the Nazi Worldview

• Anti-Defamation League
  
  (Fights antisemitism and all forms of bigotry in the U.S.)
• Confronting Antisemitism: Myths & Facts
  
  (Booklet about the history of antisemitism and the myths that surround the theories.)
• Southern Poverty Law Center
  
  (Internationally known for its tolerance education programs, its legal victories against white supremacists, and its tracking of hate groups.)
• Yad Vashem Resource Center
  
  (Provides in-depth information about the Holocaust using sources from the Yad Vashem Archives.)