Campers in the Nazi Germany and the Holocaust class have had the opportunity to learn about a topic that they’ve not had much exposure to in their regular school classes. While some had learned a little about it and WW2 in their social studies class, they’d bever gone into the depth they’ve been able to over the last two weeks. Rather than a “just the facts” approach, teacher, Ron Skillern, provided in depth information about the causes going back to Work War I, through Germany’s recovery, immigration during the inter-war years, and insight in the Hitler’s past that fueled his hatred.
By the end of SCATS, campers were able to discuss the stages of the Pyramid of Hate, with examples from US History, including education and housing discrimination, desecration and terrorist acts. They identified actions or beliefs that indicated biased attitudes, such as stereotyping, seeking like-minded people, and lack of awareness of privilege. These discussions showed the students the direct line between bias and the Holocaust.
