Holocaust L3 - What Are the Roots of Antisemitism?

This lesson contains:

• A starter with a quote about Jews and how they were ‘to be condemned’ - most will think this is from Hitler but is in fact from Martin Luther. This starts the idea that antisemitism has a longer history than just Nazi Germany.
• Background information about the long history of antisemitism and what the word means. Students write a defintion from the board.
• An overview of the word ‘scapegoat’ and how this might apply to the Jewish people through history.
• A main activity to study a series of information cards, each about a different country through history, and for students to make notes on their worksheet about how the Jews were treated, and why. This leads to a deeper discussion about patterns and trends we can see through history about the reasons why people persecuted the Jews (greed, blame, religious differences etc.) and how this links to Hitler’s persecution. There is a consolidation activity for students to do using guidence on the board.
• An activity to now compare these views with Hitler’s views in Mein Kampf and draw comparisons.
• A smaller, colour-coding activity to note why antisemitism may have been on the rise in Germany even before the Nazis assumed power.

Attachments:

• 1 x Powerpoint Presentation
• 3 x Publisher Files