For every Jew that survived, three were killed. For every Jew who was liberated from the
concentration
camps, 75 perished in brutal deaths. Never forget the terrible price that was exacted from the Jewish
people during those years.
—Rabbi Kenneth Roseman (z''l)
Teaching about the Holocaust is a major component of Jewish education. There are many fine programs available for teaching this integral part of modern Jewish history to students, young and old alike. We propose going beyond the traditional methods of teaching, e.g. textbooks, guest speakers, and museum trips, by incorporating a form of experiential learning, the adventure novel Escape from the Holocaust, written by Rabbi Kenneth Roseman.
In Escape, Rabbi Roseman invites the reader/student to take the role of a young Jewish medical student from Poland who finds himself in Berlin just as the Nazis are rising to power in Germany. The journey to survival is a series of steps wherein the reader is asked to make the decisions Jews in Europe were forced to make: Do I stay and hide, do I flee, do I fight? How do I protect my family? Escape from the Holocaust is recommended for middle school students.
The suggested time frame for the program is 6 to 8 weeks, the initial meeting(s) covering historical material and discussion of anti-Semitism and genocide narrowing in on socio-economic and political conditions in early 20th century Germany resulting in Hitler's rise to power.
This would be followed by introduction of the book to the students, including the requirement to journal daily, tracking their experiential thoughts and emotions.
The length of time allocated to reading of the book is at your discretion.
For the remaining time you have allocated to this program we have included a suggested list of questions for discussion after students have completed their reading/journaling. Again, at your discretion, this may be provided to your students before they embark on their reading journey for consideration as they read or retained for post-reading discussion and testing.
While this curriculum is intended for middle school students, please note that one is under development for younger students based on a book by Gerda Weissman Klein, Promise of a New Spring: the Holocaust and Renewal, which compares the Holocaust to a forest fire and the survivors to the flora and fauna that rise from the ashes.
