Lessons From The Holocaust Webquest - Task
| Lessons Learned From The Holocaust |
| In this webquest you will explore various events regarding one of the most horrific events in human history perpetrated by people. The lessons learned from The Holocaust should teach humanity single lesson, NEVER AGAIN! Unfortunately, if we do not learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it, and it has been repeated many times since The Holocaust. Let's explore, and learn from the past. |
| Task: Please complete the items below in order, and respond in your workpacket. | |
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| Nuremberg Trials | |||
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1. What were the Nuremberg Trials? Read: The Nuremberg Trials | |||
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2. Look at the info from the Trial of Adolf Eichmann, a German Nazi SS and organizer of the Holocaust. Look at the charges against him and the defense strategy. | |||
| 2A) What is the main defense that Eichmann uses? | |||
| 2B) Do you think this is a valid defense? Explain why or why not? | |||
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3. Watch the video excerpts below from the film Judgement at Nuremberg (1961) which depicts the trial of Nazi leader Ernst Janning. | |||
| 3A) In your opinion, who bears ultimate responsibility for the crimes of Nazi Germany? Why? | |||
| 3B) How far can we extend the blame for the Holocaust? Explain | |||
| 3C) Who is guilty? Explain. | |||
| 3D) Is the whole world guilty? Why or why not? | |||
| What Could Have Been Done, if anything? | |||
| 4. Read and look through the following short articles: | |||
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| 4A) What Did the World Know? | |||
| 4B) Why did the allied forces (Great Britain, France, and U.S.) decide NOT to take action to liberate concentration camps before the end of the war? | |||
| 4C) Do the allied powers bear some responsibility for the Holocaust? Why or why not? | |||
| German Resistance in Nazi Germany | |||
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5. View the presentation on German Resistance to the Nazi Regime. | |||
| 5A) Why didn't the European non-Jewish population take more action to defend the rights of the Jews? | |||
| 5B) Are those who did not take action, guilty? Why or why not? | |||
| The Milgram Experiment | |||
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Watch this video of a psychology experiment and be able to answer the question below. | |||
| 6A) One of the many disturbing conclusions that some people have made form the Holocaust is the idea that under the right circumstances, ordinary men can be transformed into murderers. Do you agree with this conclusion? | |||
| 6B) Were those people who participated in the Holocaust "psychopaths" or were they ordinary people? | |||
| 6C) Why do you think ordinary people can be driven to murder? | |||
| 7A) As citizens, when should we follow the law, and when, if ever, is it justifiable to break the law? | |||
| 7B) How would some of the other authors we have discussed answer this question (Locke, Hobbes, Machiavelli, Rousseau)? | |||
| 8. Josef Stalin is responsible for the deaths of 10-20 million noncombatants and Hitler is responsible for the deaths of 12 million. Why do you think Nazi Germany and the Holocaust garner (get) more attention? | |||
| 9. The Nuremberg Trials were controversial because it was the first time an international tribunal tried in court a defeated nation for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Was it hypocritical for the United States to claim moral superiority over the Germans when the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki could also be seen as crimes against humanity? Explain. | |||
| What Have We Learned From the Lessons of the the Holocaust? | |||
| 10. Have we learned anything from the lessons of the Holocaust? Explain your answer and include specific examples. |