Elie Wiesel's "Night"

I read this book in the 9th grade. It was a lot for me to handle at that point in time, and still is now. But I do think it is an important book to discuss because it gives a point of view of the holocaust that we wouldn't be able to reach on our own. If I were to talk about the holocaust in my classroom I would also bring up similar things that our own country as done, such as the internment camps of Japanese Americans. One of the sites I looked at suggested watching Schindler's list with this book, depending on the age group I'd also like to suggest the Diary of Anne Frank. My parents made me watch the Diary of Anne Frank before Schindler's list because they thought that I could relate to Anne Frank more because of my age, or even the boy with the striped pajamas. I think it is important to show that it wasn't just Germany, genocides have happened throughout the world in nearly every continent. So instead of focusing on a unit that just spans the holocaust, I would like to take a look at a majority of genocides that occurred. We often consider teaching the holocaust in order to remind us about our morality, our strength, and our capacity for evil. Based off of this I would probably create a unit plan spanning the Holocaust, Nanking Massacre, and the Rwandan genocide. There are a lot of great films and books covering these topics and we should discuss them. I think that a lot of genocides are over looked because of the Holocaust and even the holocaust is glazed over. We need to stop focusing on history from a white standpoint and instead view it for what it really is.