One of the greatest challenges the Nazi Germany and the Holocaust class at VAMPY faces every year is why? Why, and how, could such an incomprehensible horror unfold in the world? And not just in the world, but in the very heart of western civilization. Through examining the rise and fall of Nazi Germany through watching period film, reading primary source documents, and listening to class lectures, students deep dive into the sheer horror, the heart breaking history of humanity’s darkest hours–where civilization was truly at stake.
This class uses a variety of materials in trying to answer the why and how that everyone asks when first coming across this period of history. We attempt to show a trend over time leading to a dangerous reality. In Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, we inquire into the centuries of religious, political, sociological, and philosophical evolutions that led to this government that deemed millions of people as stateless and thus protected by no law, and then brutally murdered.
Just as importantly, this class takes upon itself projects whose goals include showcasing what happened, and what we must do to prevent them from ever happening again. This year one of these two projects included a series of murals. These highlight and capture the times that the students find most striking and what they would want future students and the public at large to know about the period. The other project is the annual play. This year, the students created their own version of the Children of the Holocaust play. The play follows five peoples’ stories from the holocaust to capture the humanity of the victims and the tragedy of these horrific years of destruction.
This class hopes to showcase not a perverse display of tragedy and horror, but exhort people to action. To exhort students to not only just say “never again” but to also stand up against hatred in any form, to not be like the bystanders that permitted a regime of this kind to rise; and to be role models, and educators themselves, to their family, friends, and community members. In a world beset by challenges on all sides, we hope these young people will be heralds of resistance against the forces attempting to knock down our walls once more.Â