359: Teaching the Unthinkable: A Classroom Approach to Holocaust Education

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Guest

Matt Ence is a teacher at Bountiful High School in Bountiful, UT. Matt retired from the military in 2017, when he began his teaching career. He teaches a course on the Holocaust, as well as courses in AP World History and US History. Matt became a Museum Teacher Fellow at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2023.

Summary

Matt discusses teaching a dedicated semester-length Holocaust course. He covers the chronology of events from Hitler's rise to post-liberation challenges using survivor testimonies, primary sources, and interactive activities. Matt emphasizes personalizing the Holocaust beyond statistics, exploring collaborators and bystanders alongside perpetrators, and connecting this history to other genocides to help students recognize warning signs and develop empathy for different groups.

Three Important Takeaways

  1. Teaching chronologically helps students understand cause-and-effect relationships in Holocaust history, while personal testimonies humanize the statistics of 6 million victims.

  2. Holocaust education should include an examination of four groups: perpetrators, collaborators, bystanders, and rescuers, showing the complexity of human choices during this period.

  3. Connecting Holocaust history to other genocides helps students recognize warning signs and potentially prevent future atrocities through informed action.

Map of the Holocaust in Europe during World War II, 1939-1945. This map shows all German Nazi extermination camps (or death camps), most major concentration camps, labor camps, prison camps, ghettos, major deportation routes and major massacre sites. Notes: 1. Extermination camps were dedicated death camps, but all camps and ghettos took a toll of many, many lives. 2. Concentration camps include labor camps, prison camps & transit camps. 3. Not all camps & ghettos are shown. 4. Borders are at the height of Axis domination (1942). 5. Some regions have German designations (e.g. "Ostland"), with the present country name denoted in uppercase letters in parenthesis below the German designation (e.g. "(AUSTRIA)"). 6. Present (2007) borders are dotted.

About Jeff

Jeff Ikler is the Director of Quetico Leadership and Career Coaching. “Quetico” (KWEH-teh-co). He works with leaders in all aspects of life to identify and overcome obstacles in their desired future. He came to the field of coaching after a 35-year career in educational publishing. Prior to his career in educational publishing, Jeff taught high school U.S. history and government.

Jeff has hosted the “Getting Unstuck—Cultivating Curiosity” podcast for 5 years. The guests and topics he explores are designed to help listeners think differently about the familiar and welcome the new as something to consider. He is also the co-host of the Cultivating Resilience – A Whole Community Approach to Alleviating Trauma in Schools, which promotes mental health and overall wellness.

Jeff co-authored Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change. Shifting integrates leadership development and change mechanics in a three-part change framework to help guide school leaders and their teams toward productive change.

Show Credits

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"Getting Unstuck" theme music: Original composition of "Allegro ben ritmato e deciso" by George Gershwin. Arrangement and recording courtesy of Bruno Lecoeur.

Jeff Ikler