Liberated men, Dachau concentration camp, May 1945. Photo by American Col. Alexander Zabin. USHMM.

NORTH CAROLINA COUNCIL ON THE HOLOCAUST

COMMEMORATION April 29, 2012	TEACHER WORKSHOPS 2011-12 schedule	TEACHER'S GUIDE available online	STUDENT CONTEST Information & Form	LINKS teaching resources
TRAVELING EXHIBITS five exhibitions	TRAVELING PLAY Let Your Children Tell	LIBRARIES and Publications	SPEAKERS in North Carolina	CONTACT US contribute

The North Carolina Council on the Holocaust is a state agency in the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, established in 1981 by an executive order of Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., and authorized in 1985 by the General Assembly. The Council is composed of twenty-four members, of whom six are Holocaust survivors or first-generation lineal descendants of survivors.		Through its education programs and annual commemorations, the Council strives to help prevent atrocities similar to the systematic program of mass murder by the Nazis of six million Jews and others, including gypsies (Roma), homosexuals, handicapped persons, and religious and political dissidents, from 1933 to 1945.
Visit us at the annual conferences of the North Carolina Council on the Social Studies, the North Carolina English Teachers Association, and the North Carolina School Library Media Association.

STUDENT WRITING, MUSIC, AND ART CONTEST

The Council is pleased to announce the first annual Student Contest of Holocaust-related writing, music and dance for the academic year 2011-2012. Open to all middle- and high-school students in public, private, and home schools in the state. Entries may be works of writing (prose or poetry), visual art, music, or dance. Theme: "Justice and Accountability in the Face of Genocide: What Have We Learned?" Deadline for entries: February 15, 2012.

First- and second-prize recipients, with their parents/guardians and sponsoring teachers, will be invited and recognized at the 2012 North Carolina Holocaust Remembrance in Raleigh in spring 2012 (date TBA). Please see the contest document below. For more information, contact Michael Abramson, Council chairman, at mabramson@nc.rr.com. The Council encourages teachers across the state to encourage student study and reflection on the Holocaust through this contest of creative work.

Contest Information and Verification Form (PDF).

TEACHER'S GUIDE

The Holocaust: A North Carolina Teachers' Resource, is now available online at UNC-TV's website Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State: The North Carolina Connection. The Council gratefully acknowledges UNC-TV for this service. Proceed through the guide section by section (you can download each section separately), or print the entire guide as a Word document. The 140-page illustrated guide contains the background and history of the Holocaust, appropriate for middle and high school students the personal experiences of Holocaust survivors who made their postwar homes in North Carolina lesson plans with reproducible handouts glossary and timeline.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

TEACHER WORKSHOPS

Seven to nine workshops are held throughout the school year at sites across the state. Over 7000 teachers and administrators have attended Council workshops since 1989. 2011-12 workshop schedule: Carthage, Moore County: October 11, 2011 Newport, Carteret County: November 10, 2011 Fayetteville, Cumberland County: November 14, 2011 Forest City, Rutherford County: December 7, 2011 Wilmington, New Hanover County: February 23, 2012 Charlotte, Mecklenburg County: March 22, 2012 Wilkesboro, Wilkes County: March 26, 2012 Enka, Buncombe County: April 5, 2012 In 2010-11, workshops were held in the following counties: Moore, Pitt, Stokes, Bertie, Cabarrus, Alamance, and Duplin. E-Mail Linda Scher, Education Coordinator, for more information and to register for a workshop. (brisket234@aol.com)

The one-day workshops are offered at no charge (substitute pay provided) are open to all North Carolina middle and high school teachers and administrators take place across the state provide to all participants the updated resource guide, The Holocaust: A North Carolina Teachers' Resource, the CD "A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust" (Florida Council on the Holocaust/Florida Dept. of Education), and a certificate of participation for renewal credit present a historical overview by the noted Holocaust scholar, Dr. Karl Schleunes of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro feature a Holocaust survivor, now a Raleigh resident, who recounts her experiences in the Majdanek concentration camp in Poland are especially useful for social studies teachers of U.S. history, world civilizations, and the 6th-grade curriculum (Europe and the former Soviet Union); and for language arts teachers who use Holocaust works such as The Diary of Anne Frank, Number the Stars, and Elie Wiesel's Night.

A young girl in the U.N. DP camp in Germany for homeless children, many of whom had been brought from eastern Europe to Germany for forced labor or "Aryanization." Many did not know their real names. Such photographs were published in newspapers to help reunite the children with any surviving relatives.

The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men. Plato

TRAVELING EXHIBITS

The Council sponsors five traveling exhibits for use at no charge in public libraries and in middle and high schools across the state. For more information and to schedule an exhibit, contact the Exhibit Coordinator (pdf) in your region.

1. The Kindertransport Journey: Memory Into History. This exhibit consists of seventeen panels of photos, personal testimony, and historical background. Each school that sponsors the exhibit receives teacher packets and a free copy of the video Into the Arms of Strangers for its library (download the teacher's guide from this site). The full exhibit can be seen online from the Kindertransport Association.

2. Dr. Seuss Wants You!: The Political Cartoons of Dr. Seuss, 1941-1942. This exhibit consists of fourteen panels, each of which highlights one Seuss political cartoon against fascism, anti-Semitism, and bigotry, published in PM, a New York daily newspaper. The full exhibit can be seen online from the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education.

3. Faces of Resistance: Women in the Holocaust. This exhibit highlights thirty-two women, exploring the human aspects of women and their life in the ghettos, camps, woods and rescue operations while constantly under threat of annihilation. Created by the Moreshet Holocaust Research and Study Centre at Givat Haviva in Israel.

4. Fences, Walls, and Butterflies. Children Confront the Holocaust Through Art. Fifteen framed panels (15"x25" & 30"x25") present art work created by Israeli students at the Yad Layeled art workshop, with text panels on the educational approach of the Yad Layeled Children's Museum. From American Friends of the Ghetto Fighters' Museum.

5. Triumph of Life. A 2003 exhibit commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, this display consists of 44 panels (15.5" x 22.5") that depict Jewish resistance to Nazi oppression and feature individual stories of survivors. From American Friends of the Ghetto Fighters' Museum.

For more information and to schedule an exhibit, contact the Exhibit Coordinator (pdf) in your region.

LET YOUR CHILDREN TELL

This riveting one-hour play is based on the actual experiences of three young people in Europe during the Holocaust -- Jewish and gypsy (Roma) -- who struggle to survive physically and emotionally under Nazi tyranny Written by North Carolina playwright and producer Brenda Schleunes with support from the N.C. Council on the Holocaust, Let Your Children Tell has been presented to high school and college classes across the state. For more information, contact the Touring Theater of North Carolina. "No stronger appeal for humanity and understanding of the evils of hate and prejudice can be imagined than the actual words of these children." Abe D. Jones, Jr., Greensboro News & Record "The horrible coincidence of the Sept. 11 events makes Let Your Children Tell an even more important drama than when it was commissioned last winter." Leslie Mizell, Greensboro News & Record

ANNUAL COMMEMORATION

Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah in Hebrew) is a day set aside for remembering the victims of the Holocaust and for reminding Americans of what can happen to civilized people when bigotry, hatred, and indifference reign. The United States Holocaust Memorial Council, created by act of Congress in 1980, was mandated to lead the nation in civic commemorations and to encourage appropriate Remembrance observances throughout the country. 2012 State of North Carolina Holocaust Commemoration____ Sunday, April 29, 2012, 4:00-5:30pm Temple Beth Or, Raleigh (Directions). Featured Speaker: Jay Ipson, Holocaust survivor and co-founder of the Virginia Holocaust Museum. Commemoration Speakers: 2000-2011

I pray you to believe what I have said about Buchenwald. I reported what I saw and heard, but only part of it. For most of it, I have no words. Edward R. Murrow, reporting from the liberated Buchenwald camp, 1945.

REGIONAL LIBRARIES

Teachers may borrow Holocaust education materials at no cost from several regional centers. East Carolina University Holocaust Resources for Teachers, ECU Library. E-Mail Dr. Bryna Coonin, librarian. Lenoir County region. E-Mail Lee Holder, Holocaust Program, North Lenoir High School. Extensive classroom collection of resources. Pender Early College. E-Mail Angela Eichhorn.. Greensboro Jewish Federation. E-Mail Marilyn Chandler, executive director. Two portable trunks of teaching materials may be borrowed by area teachers. Mars Hill College Library. E-Mail Linda Scher, Council education coordinator. Caldwell County Community College. E-Mail Nancy Miller. Catawba County Community College. E-Mail Nancy Miller.

PUBLICATIONS and VIDEOS

Teacher's Guide. The Holocaust: North Carolina Teachers' Resource, by Linda Scher. Updated and expanded edition, 2002, 2005. 158 pages. Available through teacher workshops and online at UNC-TV's website Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State: The North Carolina Connection. Classroom activities with background information on anti-Semitism, Nazism, and the Holocaust, personalized with the stories of survivors who became North Carolina residents. Seven overview sections with ten lessons that include 27 reproducible handouts. Timeline, glossary, bibliography, and the Maurice Ogden poem "The Hangman." Book. Witnesses to the Horror: North Carolinians Remember the Holocaust, by Cecile Holmes White. 1987. 137 pages. Age 12+. First-person accounts of eleven survivors, three children of survivors, and three servicemen; with photographs, an historical overview, and appendices. Available in public secondary school libraries in North Carolina. Video. The Holocaust: A Personal North Carolina History. 15 minutes. VHS. Grade 8+. First-person accounts of concentration camp survivors and American servicemen that reveal how the Holocaust continues to affect these North Carolina citizens and their families. Available through the North Carolina Museum of History Media Loan Program. $1.00 per video (for one week) plus return postage. Order form available on the site. Video. Ripples in Time. 60 minutes (in two parts). VHS. Grade 8+. Personal stories of the Holocaust from Jews who escaped to the U.S., Jewish Americans who served in World War II, and American servicemen who liberated concentration camps. Available through the North Carolina Museum of History Media Loan Program. $1.00 per video (for one week) plus return postage. Order form available on the site. Video. Lessons from Anne Frank: North Carolina Students Respond. 15 minutes. VHS. Grade 6+. Produced by junior high students in Greensboro, NC. An opportunity for students to respond to and ask questions about the Holocaust. Available through the Council; E-Mail the Education Coordinator.

SPEAKERS

Upon request, the Council will provide names of Holocaust survivors and experts who present talks to classes and other groups. E-mail the Council Chairman, Michael Abramson, for speaker information. The Chapel Hill-Durham Holocaust Speakers Bureau also provides access to speakers as well as guidance in hosting a speaker.

LINKS

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC. The first site to visit for Holocaust history, photographic archives, online exhibitions, and educational resources including Teaching About The Holocaust, including the museum's 138-page downloadable teacher's guide, and the Holocaust Encyclopedia.

A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust Rich website accompanying the CD provided to all teachers attending the N.C. Council's workshops. From the Florida Dept. of Education.

Facing History and Ourselves Highly valuable program that leads students and teachers in studying the historical development of the Holocaust and other examples of collective violence -- with the goal that they may learn to combat indifference with civic participation.

Remembering the Holocaust: A Summer Symposium for Educators and the Community, July 17-22, 2011; free and open to the public. Office of Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies, Appalachian State University.

Teaching Tolerance, from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Extensive offering of worthwhile materials (free) for teachers.

Choosing to Remember: From the Shoah to the Mountains. Digital exhibit on the experiences of Western North Carolina residents who are personally connected to the Holocaust. From the The Center for Diversity Education, Asheville, NC.

Down Home: Jewish Life in North Carolina, a project of the Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina

The Levine-Sklut Judaic Library and Resource Center, Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte. Teachers' resource center for Jewish schools in the region, offering an extensive collection of books, DVDs, CDs, videos, audiotapes, posters, games, and curriculum materials.

The Levy-Loewenstein Holocaust Collection, Greensboro College. An extensive collection of scholarly monographs, personal memoirs, and reference books detailing the history of the Holocaust, provided through the generosity of Richard and Jane Levy.

The Blynn Holocaust Collection, Forsyth Technical Community College, Winston-Salem. A collection of nearly 400 resources including books, DVDs, videos, and a unique collection of Holocaust testimonies of survivors who have called North Carolina home; provided through the donations of Mr. Guy M. Blynn with the aim of raising awareness of the Holocaust and its consequences.

My Jewish Legacy . Begun as a Bat-Mitzvah project, Elyse Bodenheimer of Charlotte, NC, offers her website as "a starting place for kids and teens to share stories about their grandparent' journeys in escaping or surviving the Holocaust." Includes the experiences of her great-grandfather and a link to submit others' experiences for her website.

Other Southern associations and state agencies on the Holocaust: Virginia Holocaust Museum South Carolina Council on the Holocaust State of Florida Commissioner's Task Force on Holocaust Education Florida Holocaust Museum Georgia Commission on the Holocaust Tennessee Holocaust Commission Holocaust Teacher Resource Center, Holocaust Education Foundation, Newport News, Virginia Complete list of Association of Holocaust Organizations members in the U.S. and the world.

NORTH CAROLINA COUNCIL ON THE HOLOCAUST N.C. Dept. of Public Instruction 301 N. Wilmington St., Raleigh, NC 27601 www.ncpublicschools.org/holocaust_council Michael Abramson, Chairman (919-787-9939; mabramson@nc.rr.com) Contact Us: Chairman, Michael Abramson, about Council issues and speaker contacts. Education Coordinator, Linda Scher, about teacher workshops. Regional Exhibit Coordinators (pdf) about the three traveling exhibits. Webmaster, Marianne Wason, about the website. For information on other Council programs, see information and e-mail contacts on this page. Contribute: Please consider a contribution to the North Carolina Holocaust Foundation to support the Council's teacher workshops and other programs in North Carolina. For information and to inspect the Foundation's Form 990, e-mail Council Chair Michael Abramson. Updated January 31, 2012.

Survivors gather around an American military vehicle in the Mauthausen concentration camp, Austria, between May 5 and May 15, 1945.

Photograph of Bert Bodenheimer and his grand-daughter, Elyse Bodenheimer, courtesy of the Bodenheimer family. Photograph of Gizella Abramson courtesy of the University of North Carolina-Pembroke. Photographs courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: --Liberated men, Dachau concentration camp, May 1945. Photograph by Col. Alexander Zabin, an American soldier from Malverne, Long Island, New York, serving with the 4th Auxiliary Surgical Group in the US Third Army when he visited Dachau in mid-May 1945. He had landed in Normandy on the day after D-day and moved with the Third Army through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, and Czechoslovakia. Courtesy of Col. Alexander Zabin. #62258. --Therese Divak in U.N. displaced persons camp, Germany, 1945-1948. Courtesy of Lilo Plaschkes. #86764. --Survivors around an American military vehicle, Mauthausen concentration camp, Austria, May 1945. Courtesy of Frank Brooks. #08297.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Source unknown (often attributed incorrectly to 18th-century Irish philosopher and statesman Edmund Burke)