NYC School Children to Learn about the Holocaust Using a Brand New Curriculum Created by the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
Citing an Urgent Need for Holocaust Education, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, with Support from the NYC Department of Education, Developed This New Teaching Resource
(New York, NY) The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust has launched the Museum of Jewish Heritage Holocaust Curriculum, an innovative teaching resource with flexible lesson plans and primary sources for middle and high school students in New York City. This resource was developed by the Museum with support from the New York City Department of Education and will be accessible by other school districts as well.
“Creating innovative and content-rich educational materials is at the heart of the Museum’s work to define the future of Holocaust education,” said Museum President & CEO Michael S. Glickman, describing the Museum’s Holocaust Curriculum as “the most important educational initiative in our Museum’s 20-year history.”
A recent survey found critical gaps in awareness and knowledge of the Holocaust, showing that nearly one-third of all Americans believe that substantially fewer than six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. A significant majority of Americans believe that fewer people care about the Holocaust today, and more than half of all Americans believe that the Holocaust could happen again.
These stunning statistics come as nearly 90 percent of those surveyed believe all students should learn about the Holocaust in school, and 80 percent say it is important to keep teaching about the Holocaust so it does not happen again. The Museum’s Holocaust Curriculum addresses this increasingly significant need within New York City public schools.
“Learning about the Holocaust inspires students to resist in-group pressures toward racial and religious bigotry,” said Glickman. “It equips students with the tools to answer one of history’s darkest chapters by becoming more caring, morally aware, and better citizens.”
In addition to downloadable versions of the lesson plans, the curriculum website (holocaustcurriculum.nyc) features artifacts and testimonies from the Museum collection, professional development videos, a comprehensive timeline and glossary, and additional activities and resources for teachers and students to explore. The internationally-recognized Education Department developed the Curriculum with standards aligned to the Common Core, as well as the New York City Scope and Sequence for Social Studies and NYS Next Generation Learning Standards.
The Curriculum was developed over nearly two years and piloted in schools across the boroughs. Through the Museum’s work to distribute and implement the Curriculum, the Museum will reach students throughout the five boroughs in their own classrooms—a meaningful and unprecedented expansion of the educational mission to teach diverse audiences about Jewish life before, during, and after the Holocaust.
The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust has trained more than 24,000 teachers and educated more than 800,000 students. The Museum of Jewish Heritage Holocaust Curriculum will expand the Museum’s long-held role as New York’s primary resource for teaching and learning about the Holocaust, nearly doubling the number of student visits over the next two years.
The Museum of Jewish Heritage Holocaust Curriculum is made possible through the generosity of The Molly Blank Fund of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Major support has been provided by the The Myron and Alayne Meilman Family Foundation in memory of Alayne Meilman, and the Mildred and Alvin Caplow Fund of The Leo Rosner Foundation. Additional support has been provided by Young Friends of the Museum, and the Gallery Educator Friends of the Museum Fund.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE—A LIVING MEMORIAL TO THE HOLOCAUST
The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is New York’s contribution to the global responsibility to never forget. The second-largest Holocaust museum in the United States, the Museum anchors the southernmost tip of Manhattan, completing the cultural and educational landscape it shares with the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Opening May 2019, the Museum will present the groundbreaking exhibition Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. – the most comprehensive Holocaust exhibition about Auschwitz ever exhibited in North America.
Since 1997, the Museum of Jewish Heritage has welcomed more than two million visitors; it maintains a collection of more than 40,000 artifacts, photographs, documentary films, and survivor testimonies and contains classrooms, a 375-seat theater (Edmond J. Safra Hall), special exhibition galleries, a resource center for educators, and a memorial art installation, Garden of Stones, designed by internationally-acclaimed sculptor Andy Goldsworthy.
The Museum receives general operating support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts.
The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is located at 36 Battery Place in Lower Manhattan. For more information, visit mjhnyc.org.
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