The Holocaust is often taught in terms of dictators, war, suffering and death; however, in order to more fully process the implications of the Holocaust, one must also consider the human element of this tragic time in history. This series will lead students to grapple with important issues and themes such as the danger of indifference, humanity, hope, decision-making and standing up for what's right. 

Peace justice

Peace, Justice and strong institutions

Inequality

Reduced inequalities

    Why Should We Remember?    

Identify the elements of major political systems (e.g., monarchy, democracy, constitutional monarchy, dictatorship).

SOC.4.6.5.d

Explain how historical legacies have facilitated understanding or caused misunderstanding (slavery in the United States, Nazi Germany, etc.).

SOC.6.2.8.b

Trace the transition from tyranny and oligarchy to early democratic forms of government and back to dictatorship in ancient Greece, including the significance of the invention of the idea of citizenship (e.g., from Pericles' Funeral Oration).

SOC.6.WH.6.4.2

Describe the political, diplomatic, and military leaders during the war (e.g., Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Emperor Hirohito, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower).

SOC.10.WH.10.8.4

Analyze the Nazi policy of pursuing racial purity, especially against the European Jews; its transformation into the Final Solution; and the Holocaust that resulted in the murder of six million Jewish civilians.

SOC.10.WH.10.8.5

Identify attempts to promote international justice by trying Nazi war crimes after World War II (Nuremberg Trials).

SOC.9-12.SS.912.A.6.In.g

Recognize attempts to promote international justice by trying Nazi war crimes after World War II (Nuremberg Trials).

SOC.9-12.SS.912.A.6.Su.g

Recognize that the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany used mass terror and restriction of individual rights in order to control their people.

SOC.9-12.SS.912.W.7.In.f

Recognize major effects of the Holocaust, including the Nazi dehumanization of Jews and other victims.

SOC.9-12.SS.912.W.7.In.h

Recognize an effect of the Holocaust, including the Nazi dehumanization of Jews and other victims.

SOC.9-12.SS.912.W.7.Su.h

Describe the rise of authoritarian governments in the Soviet Union, Italy, Germany, and Spain, and analyze the policies and main ideas of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, and Francisco Franco.

SS.912.W.7.5

Analyze the restriction of individual rights and the use of mass terror against populations in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and occupied territories.

SS.912.W.7.6

Explain the causes, events, and effects of the Holocaust (1933-1945) including its roots in the long tradition of anti-Semitism, 19th century ideas about race and nation, and Nazi dehumanization of the Jews and other victims.

SS.912.W.7.8

Understand significant events of World War II, including: major battles at Midway, Normandy, Stalingrad, Kursk, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Battle of the Bulge; key political leaders of the Allies and Axis powers, including: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin; the human cost of the war; the decision to drop the atomic bombs.

SOC.8.16.8.39

Understand the causes, course, and outcome of World War II (e.g., how the failure of the League of Nations contributed to the outbreak of World War II; major turning points of the war, principal theaters of conflict; political, diplomatic, and military leaders, including Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Emperor Hirohito, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Douglas MacArthur, and Dwight D. Eisenhower; the internment of Japanese Americans and the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan).

SOC.8.16.8.88

Identify the Nazi policy of pursuing racial purity, especially against the European Jews in the Holocaust.

SOC.8.16.8.89

Understand significant aspects of World War II (e.g., failure of the policy of appeasement; major battles at Midway, Normandy, Stalingrad, Kursk, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Battle of the Bulge; turning points of the war and reason for Allied victory; key political leaders of the Allies and Axis powers, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin; characteristics of the European, African, and Pacific theaters of battle; role and sacrifices of individual American soldiers, as well as the unique contributions of military special forces such as Tuskegee Airmen and Navajo Code talkers; the human cost of the war; the decision to drop the atomic bombs and the consequences of this decision).

SOC.11.16.11.42

Understand the rise, aggression, and human costs of totalitarian regimes in the Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, and Japan (e.g., German, Italian, and Japanese empire building; atrocities in China, including the 1937 “Rape of Nanking” and the Nazi-Soviet Non- Aggression Pact of 1939).

SOC.11.16.11.105

Understand the Holocaust and its impact on Jewish culture and European society (e.g., Nazi policies and ideology of racial purity; the Holocaust and the murder of six million Jewish civilians; the role of the Holocaust in the context of World War II including war crimes trials at Nuremberg).

SOC.11.16.11.107

demonstrate an understanding (e.g., speak, draw, write, projects, present) of the nature of government: compare purposes and sources of power in the most common forms of government (e.g., monarchy, democracy, republic, dictatorship) in the present day

SOC.6.SS-6-GC-S-1.b

demonstrate an understanding (e.g., speak, draw, write, projects, present) of the nature of government: compare different forms of government, and the purposes and sources of power in the most common forms of government (e.g., monarchy, democracy, republic, dictatorship) in world civilizations prior to 1500 A.D

SOC.7.SS-7-GC-S-1.b

Define the world’s major political systems: Totalitarian dictatorship

SOC.6-8.C16.[6-8].2.b

Summarize and evaluate the significant characteristics of the world’s major political systems: Totalitarian dictatorship

SOC.9-12.C16.[9-12].1.b

The crime of genocide crosses cultures and eras. Jews and other groups experienced devastation at the hands of Nazi Germany.

SOC.6.1.16

SOC.9-12.3.G.3

Weimar Republic and the rise of fascism as an aftermath of World War I

SOC.9-12.6.C.6

SOC.9-12.6.D.2

The Nazi Holocaust: the extermination of Jews, Poles, other Slavs, Gypsies, disabled, and others

SOC.9-12.6.D.5

The Nazi Holocaust: United States and world reactions

SOC.9-12.6.I.C.5.c

explain the roles of various world leaders, including Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Hideki Tojo, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill, prior to and during World War II; and

SOC.9-12.WH.12.B

compare how democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, republic, theocracy, and totalitarian systems operate in specific countries; and

SOC.9-12.WG.14.B

SOC.9-12.1.14.B

SOC.9-12.2.12.B

describe the features of different types of government such as democracy, theocracy, republic, monarchy, dictatorship, communism, and socialism;

GPAD.10-12.3.A

explain the main causes of World War II (e.g., economic hardship in Germany produced by the Treaty of Versailles and economic depression; invasions by fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and imperial Japan; the inadequacy of the League of Nations to address international crises), and analyse Canada’s contribution to the war effort (e.g., with reference to the Battle of the Atlantic, the Battle of Hong Kong, the Italian campaign, D-Day, the liberation of the Netherlands, the liberation of concentration camps, the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, Camp X; the contribution of individuals such as Paul Triquet and Charles Tompkins; the contributions of women and of Indigenous soldiers)

C2.3 Communities, Conflict, and Cooperation

analyse how Canada and people in Canada, including First Nations, Métis, and/or Inuit individuals and communities, responded or were connected to some major international events and/or developments that occurred during this period (e.g., the Red Scare; the Holodomor; the Spanish Civil War; the Nanking Massacre; aggression by fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and/or imperial Japan; the Holocaust; the Manhattan Project), and assess the significance of the responses/connections, including their significance for identities and heritage in Canada

C3.2 Identity, Citizenship, and Heritage

analyse key aspects of the historical development of political systems/structures in this ethnic group’s country or region of origin (e.g., the types of government that characterized different periods in the country’s history – monarchy, theocracy, tribal government, dictatorship, democracy, junta, revolutionary government; whether the country was ever a colony and, if so, the structures in its colonial and self-government phases; the involvement, if any, of religious/spiritual leaders in political structures; how war and/or revolution affected political structures)

B1.5 Social, Economic, and Political Context

explain how the actions of some individuals or groups during this period helped promote peace and/or contributed to conflict (e.g., with reference to Napoleon Bonaparte, Simón Bolívar, Leopold II, Mohandas Gandhi, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Rosa Parks, or Nelson Mandela; alliance systems; the Irish Republican Army; the League of Nations or the United Nations [UN]; the International Red Cross / Red Crescent Society; pacifist/antiwar movements; peace and reconciliation commissions; al-Qaeda)

D2.4 Politics and Conflict

analyse some of the political objectives of various heads of government, both historical and current (e.g., Fidel Castro, Adolf Hitler, Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, Pol Pot, Joseph Stalin, Margaret Thatcher, Pierre Trudeau), and assess their use of power and strategies for achieving their goals

C1.1 The Influence of Individuals and Groups

analyse ways in which conflict and violence have influenced politics in and relations between various countries around the world since World War I (e.g., civil wars in Russia, Spain, Algeria, China, or Syria; Axis invasions during World War II; genocides, ethnic cleansing, and other crimes against humanity in Turkey, Nazi Germany, Ukraine, Rwanda, or the former Yugoslavia; terrorism in Northern Ireland or the Middle East; the Dirty War in Argentina; the crushing of the Prague Spring or Arab Spring)