Holocaust Educator Resource Center
The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee is committed to educating the public and to supporting educators and their students in the Sarasota-Manatee communities, to be vigilant guardians of history, ensuring that the lessons of the Holocaust are not just learned but deeply understood. Beyond textbooks and lectures, we will provide information, tools and programs to help cultivate empathy, courage, and resilience and to help educators to empower students to confront hatred and injustice wherever they may find it. We will help educators to inspire a generation not only to remember the past but also to actively build a future founded on compassion, tolerance, and human dignity. We are also dedicated to honoring and assisting the victims, survivors, and families affected by this tragic and horrific era in history.
The State of Florida is one of 28 states that mandates K-12 Holocaust Education in their schools. (https://echoesandreflections.org/interactive-map/) To help support Holocaust Educators, the state provides updated standards which took effect in the 2023-2024 school year as found at https://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/18736/urlt/HolocaustEducation.pdf
In addition, resources from the State of Florida Commissioner’s Education’s Task Force on Holocaust Education can be found at: https://www.fldoe.org/holocausteducation/holo-ed-week.stml
Holocaust Education Week
The Florida Department of Education annually commemorates the second week of November as Holocaust Education Week, coinciding with the anniversary of Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938, a watershed event in history marking the beginning of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany.
The contents of this resource center provide age-appropriate resources and testimonies from local survivors and other resources that are from the Commissioner of Education’s Task Force on Holocaust Education and are meant to address topics in multiple contents including social studies, English language arts and the arts.
Lesson Plans
These lesson plans can be used to help instruct and engage your students when learning about the Holocaust.
Impact Theatre
Impact Theatre is an educational initiative to spotlight the common history of oppression and persecution of both Jewish and African American communities. Impact Theatre provides an opportunity for both communities to unite and strive for human rights and peace.
Links to Impact Theatre Films
Additional Resources
Holocaust & Generations After Survivors
Your students can learn from Holocaust survivors and their relatives as they share stories of Holocaust survivor experiences.
The Holocaust Speakers Bureau offers educators and community leaders a unique opportunity to have a Holocaust or a 2nd Generation Survivor speak to their students or groups. Since 2014, almost 20,000community members of all ages in schools, churches and membership organizations were impacted by this program.
- Before you have a Holocaust Survivor come to your classroom to speak, please review the attached document Holocaust Speaker Prep below.
- The following Holocaust Survivors and Generation survivors are actively involved in the Holocaust Speakers Bureau. We encourage you to try to match the survivors’ experience with the topic you are teaching at the time so as to add authenticity, relevance and historical context by someone who bore witness.
The world will be bereft when the eyewitnesses to this grim history are no longer with us. We may, though, take some small comfort in the knowledge that when survivors themselves can no longer speak, our dedicated, knowledgeable Holocaust educators will speak for them. -Karen Shawn, Ph.D.
The Daffodil Project
A living memorial to the 1.5 million Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust (Grades 4-12).
Resource Links
Click on the links below for additional and useful information.
Professional Development
Holocaust Education can make a difference. And the role of the Holocaust Educator is now even more vital than ever.
Here are some resources that you can access for your continuing professional development These include a Holocaust Teachers Guide, bibliography, a filmography (recommended only for adults}) and a timeline of the Holocaust as provided by Yad Vashem.
Educational Videos
Video links from respected resources including: The Museum of Jewish Heritage, The US Holocaust Memorial Museum, The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee, The Daffodil Project, and OpenDor Media.
Grades 3-12
Grades 6-12
Impact Theatre
Educational Resources
Utilize the links below for access to important and relevant resources.
Antisemitism
Antisemitism is a form of prejudice and discrimination specifically directed against Jews. It encompasses a range of negative beliefs, attitudes, and actions that can manifest in many forms.
Below is a webliography of resources appropriate for use with students when discussing Antisemitism.
Defining Antisemitism
Timelines of Antisemitism
The History of Antisemitism
Lessons and Units
Gallery
Connect
Holocaust Education Initiative
Bette
Bette is responsible for the Federation’s Holocaust Education Initiative offering events and educational programs targeted to all members of the community and especially, to teachers and students. Reach out to Bette for any questions or information regarding Holocaust education programming.
