Teaching about the Holocaust Through Drama

Now that many states have mandated Holocaust studies in middle-school curriculums and many other teachers, in school and out, are developing units on the Holocaust, the time has come for a practical, well-researched text to give those teachers the help they need. Such a book is Rubin's Teaching About the Holocaust Through Drama. "Whether you are teaching about the Holocaust in a classroom, as part of a religious school program, in conjunction with museum education, or with a youth group or drama club, you have taken on the worthy task of helping young people to learn," Rubin writes. "In doing this, you honor the memory of victims as well as the fortitude and character of survivors and rescuers. Out of the horrors of the Holocaust can come an understanding of our own humanity. Your commitment to your students in this endeavor speaks directly to your belief in their potential to learn from the past and to make the world a better place." The book covers many aspects of the Holocaust, ranging from the historical background, ghettos and camps, hiding and rescuers, perpetrators, resistors, to survivors and displaced persons. Several sections are built around the books young people read, Night, by Elie Wiesel, and The Diary of Anne Frank, to deepen the experience of these books. The final chapter gives a series of activities before and after a visit to a Holocaust museum. Throughout, there are connections to contemporary events and experiences to make the Holocaust personal to young people. 6x9—128 pages.