It is recommended to conduct a 30- to 40-minute discussion with students soon after their visit to help them recall what they have learned and to reflect upon the Holocaust and its implications. The following activities are designed to assist group leaders in facilitating those discussions.
Identification Cards
Ask each student to reexamine the identification card he or she received at the Museum and to imagine which items from the Permanent Exhibition would be included if he or she were to create a small exhibition about the individual portrayed on the card. For some students, this assignment will be more challenging because the specific experiences portrayed on the identification card are not explicitly represented in the Permanent Exhibition. Ask students who have received these cards to find some connection, direct or indirect, between the experiences described on the card and the information in the Permanent Exhibition.
Review Your Visit: Question Card Activity
Facilitating a discussion with students about the various questions on the cards they used during their visit will enable them both to review and to reflect upon their experience in the Permanent Exhibition.
What Can Your Students Do?
Although the Holocaust ended in 1945, mass killings and Genocide in other areas of the world did not. Have students gain a broader understanding of genocide and how the history of the Holocaust is relevant to our contemporary world, and how to take action. The Museum encourages everyone to become involved in stopping genocide in our world today. Have your students initiate their own efforts to make their voices heard. Have your students promote awareness of genocide emergencies and mobilize your community to prevent genocide. The Museum’s Committee on Conscience has an extensive array of resources and activities that explore the continuing threat of genocide in our world.
Learn more: Center for the Prevention of Genocide
