HOLOCAUST

 
 

Holocaust literally means "burnt offering".
The term was coined by nobel peace prize recipient
Eli Wiesel as he searched for an adequate word or phrase
to describe the incredible horror and destruction that he witnessed.

Below are web sites to visit that will help us to learn and remember what happened during the Holocaust, and to honor those who died and those who had the moral courage to help those in need.  (There are many sites to choose from, be sure to scroll down first to see all your choices!)

NEW!    Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation    http://www.vhf.org
In 1994, after filming Schindler's List, Steve Spielberg established Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation with an urgent mission: to chronicle, before it is too late, the firsthand accounts of Holocaust survivors and eyewitnesses, liberators and rescuers.  Recording more than 50,000 unedited testimonies, the largest undertaking of its kind, the Shoah Foundation launched its mission to create a multimedia Archive to be used as an educational and research tool.  (Thank you M.C.!)

NEW!   Florida Dept. of Education: A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust   http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust
An overview of the people and events of the Holocaust through photographs, documents, art, music, and literature.   Includes 3-D views of concentration camps.  (Thank you M.S.!)

Remembering the Holocaust    http://home.vicnet.net.au/~aragorn/holocaus.htm
Andrew Rajcher, a Jewish Australian and descendent of Holocaust survivors, has set up a premiere Holocaust ring web site.  This site has links to over 20 web sites including Holocaust Memorials and Museums around the world.  (Be patient when you download this site, music is included.)

Righteous Gentiles    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shtetl/righteous
"Righteous Gentiles is the phrase used for those non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.  This site has profiles and oral histories of ten Polish rescuers Jews.  Their stories reveal what transforms people from indifferent bystanders into heroes.

The Jewish Student Online Resource Center http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/rescuetoc.html
Go to this extensive site for information about rescuers.  Can also go to the main page for over 100 topics related to Judaism.

The Ghetto Fighters' House    http://www.gfh.org.il/english
The Ghetto Fighters' House includes a documentation center, museum, research institute, and an education center.  This site is a very large ring web site with over 75 links in several categories. When you get to the home page scroll down the left side bar to "Other Links".  Some highlights from this ring are featured below.

To Save a Life - Stories of Jewish Rescue http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/~rescuers
This site provides the first-person accounts of six rescuers who assisted Holocaust victims.

Holocaust/Shoah    http://www.igc.org/ddickerson/holocaust.html
This site provides links to numerous Holocaust sources on the Internet, including organizations, archives, educational projects, and stories of survivors and rescuers.

Holocaust Studies Center (Bronx High School) http://www.bxscience.edu/organizations/holocaust
This site has many image resources for student projects.  You can view the original artwork of a Holocaust survivor, and look into the center's vast collection of propaganda posters.

Cybrary of the Holocaust    http://www.remember.org
A collaborative project rich in original content.  Includes survivors' journals and excerpts from related books, as well as other material.

The Beast Within - An Interdisciplinary Unit http://www.cyberlearning-world.com/nhhs/html/beast.htm
This unit was developed at North Hagerstown High School in Maryland.  It involves a study of the darker side of human nature as explored by the literature, history, and science of the 20th century.

An Auschwitz Alphabet    http://www.spectacle.org/695/ausch.html
This alphabet represents the author's "own selection ... of the most significant facets of life and death in Auschwitz."  For each letter of the alphabet, one Auschwitz-related term or concept has been selected and described.  Also has links to other sites.

The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous http://www.jfr.org/main.html
The Foundation cares for over 1600 surviving Righteous Gentiles.  This web site is full of stories of moral courage, and links.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer    http://www.thesumners.com/bonhoeffer/life.html
Lutheran minister who was executed by the Nazis for helping Jews escape Germany.

Oskar Schindler    http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/schindler.html
German factory owner who saved the lives of over a thousand Jews during the Holocaust.

Raoul Wallenberg   http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/wallenberg.html
                                    http://www.fallenmartyrs.com/sweden.htm
Swedish humanitarian who is said to have saved as many as 100,000 lives during Hitler's regime.

Corrie Ten Boom    http://www.soon.org.uk/true_stories/holocaust.htm
Dutch woman who rescued many Jews from certain death at the hands of the Nazi SS.
 

MUSEUMS/MEMORIALS
All of the following links have excellent virtual tours, photos, and information.
Yad Vashem (Israel)    http://www.yad-vashem.org.il
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington, DC)    http://www.ushmm.org
Museum of Tolerance (Los Angeles)  http://www.wiesenthal.com/mot
Florida Holocaust Museum (St. Petersburg) http://www.flholocaustmuseum.org
C.A.N.D.L.E.S. Holocaust Museum (Indiana) http://www.candles-museum.com
El Paso Holocaust Museum and Study Center (Texas) http://www.huntel.com/~ht2/holocst.html