Holocaust Education Week

The state of Florida has designated the second week in November as "Holocaust Education Week" in recognition that November is the anniversary of Kristallnacht, widely recognized as a precipitating event that led to the Holocaust. Holocaust Education Week is an enhancement of ongoing Holocaust education as mandated by the state of Florida since 1994 (HB1213).

Education Resources

Below you will find a list of free digital and print resources and guidelines to help teachers and students explore Holocaust history and bring those lessons to today. Teachers should choose content that is appropriate for their students based on their age, grade, and how prepared they are for Holocaust studies. You can find the full PDF of suggested resources and guidelines for Holocaust Education Week on the Florida Holocaust Museum Virtual Resources page.

• Guidelines for Holocaust Education
• Guidelines for Teaching the Holocaust (USHMM, Washington DC)
• Foundational Lesson Plans (USHMM, Washington, DC)
• “Museum Guide for Educators” with guidelines and primary sources (The Florida Holocaust Museum, St. Petersburg, FL)
• Fundamentals of Teaching about the Holocaust (USHMM, Washington, DC)

• Frequently Asked Questions
• The Holocaust Resource Center (Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Israel)
• Holocaust Encyclopedia: A Learning Site for Students (USHMM, Washington, DC)

• Antisemitism
• What is Antisemitism? (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Berlin, Germany)
• Materials and Lesson Plans on Antisemitism and Racism (USHMM, Washington, DC)
• The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Film on Antisemitism and Discussion Questions (USHMM, Washington, DC)

• Historical Overview of the Holocaust
• An Overview of The Holocaust: Topics to Teach (USHMM, Washington, DC)
• Timeline of Events: 1933 – 1945 and after (USHMM, Washington, DC)
• Kristallnacht (Facing History and Ourselves, Brookline, MA)

• Pinellas County School District teachers have access to many resources to teach about the Holocaust. (Below are a few examples)
• The Florida Holocaust Museum
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Yad Vashem
• Echoes and Reflections

• Virtual Tours
• Tour of The FHM’s permanent exhibition with video clips of survivors and liberators (The Florida Holocaust Museum, St. Petersburg)
• Tour of The Holocaust Documentation and Education Center (Dania Beach, FL)
• Tour of Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach (Miami Beach, FL)

Section 1003.42(g), Florida Statutes, reads as follows: The history of the Holocaust (1933-1945), the systematic, planned annihilation of European Jews and other groups by Nazi Germany, a watershed event in the history of humanity, to be taught in a manner that leads to an investigation of human behavior, an understanding of the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping, and an examination of what it means to be a responsible and respectful person, for the purposes of encouraging tolerance of diversity in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting democratic values and institutions, including the policy, definition, and historical and current examples of anti-Semitism, as described in s. 1000.05(8), and the prevention of anti-Semitism. Each school district must annually certify and provide evidence to the department, in a manner prescribed by the department, that the requirements of this paragraph are met. The department shall prepare and offer standards and curriculum for the instruction required by this paragraph and may seek input from the Commissioner of Education’s Task Force on Holocaust Education or from any state or nationally recognized Holocaust educational organizations. The department may contract with any state or nationally recognized Holocaust educational organizations to develop training for instructional personnel and grade-appropriate classroom resources to support the developed curriculum.

Florida Department of Education Commissioner’s Task Force on Holocaust Education