I touched upon Mara's point in my last post, by coincidence. Prof. Bauer said it better than I can. First, he noted, the Holocaust is unprecedented, and not because of the numbers. It is unprecedented because it was Nazi ideology to kill all the Jews, not to kill them in the course of taking their property or to seize power, or for any other reason. The idea was to kill them all, every single one.
He added, however, that we should indeed be teaching about other genocides and other matters of social justice. He said creating an identification with the Holocaust is a good place to start because it is so compelling. We use it to create empathy. He said we should start with the Holocaust as a way of getting to human rights.
As educators we have to respect the perspective of our students, especially when it creates responses that run counter to our own perspectives. What I'm hearing here is that we need also not to overgeneralize or offer up false analogies. Teachers are guilty of that, too, sometimes you know. Stick to the facts. That's what I'm hearing. We need to know what we are talking about.
I put together a movie today about our visit to Yad Vashem. I had to leave off the ending I wanted to use because YouTube said I was taking up too much of their space, but in any case I thinks it's pretty good and I hope I can get it posted tonight. It's 11:44 P.M. and the porter is coming for our bags at 12:30. We're getting on the bus at 1:00 for an hour ride to Tel Aviv so we can be at the airport three hours early for Israeli security. Sunday we arrive in Berlin for a new phase of the tour. It's already amazing and I think you'll get a sense of that from the movie.
Today we visited Mosada and the Dead Sea. I floated, swam is the wrong word, in the Dead Sea today and I can still feel the oil on my skin after two showers. It was 120 degrees at the Dead Sea today. Mosada was also great and I enjoyed seeing the countryside on the way there. I'll have more later on the tourist stuff.
I'm really getting a lot out of this trip and I've met some wonderful people and I appreciate you following along. I would love to hear from everyone.
Sid,
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this. I'm going to make a point of finding that video. I'll be checking on your progress. I've got a blog going for my project as well. Check it out when you have a spare hour or two. I've been posting regularly. This blogging thing is a perfect way of reflecting upon our activities. Have a rewarding adventure. I am preparing to embark this coming Wednesday, upon phase 2 of my project, The Original Dulcimer Players Funfest. Its name belies the fact that the fest caters to a wide variety of acoustic instrument players. Take care and stay safe.
http://yvonnedesrosiers.blogspot.com/2010/05/official-beginning-of-my-lilly-grant.html
Yvonne Desrosiers, South Bend, In. age 57
Seeing your video brought me back to my time at Yad Vashem last summer. I had forgotten about the Avenue of the Righteous and the trees planted in honor of individuals who resisted. I remember that being very powerful. I'm glad you got to see Masada and float in the Dead Sea, those were my favorite parts of Israel. There is a lot of beauty in that country. In your video, I also liked hearing from the other participants, their backgrounds, and their perception of the experience you're sharing. Looking forward to staying tuned in.
ReplyDeleteLily Shroyer, 24
New York, NY