One of the key points I emphasize in my teaching is that the Holocaust, while a pivotal and horrifying event, is not the only instance of genocide in history. Before we even begin studying World War II, I introduce my students to the Armenian Genocide to establish a broader understanding of the patterns and warning signs of genocide. After covering the Holocaust, I ensure we explore other examples of genocide that occurred after World War II, so students recognize that this is not just a historical issue—it's an ongoing global concern. I often incorporate the documentary Worse than War to help students engage with modern cases of genocide and understand the political, social, and human impact. I'm always looking for new resources and classroom activities to help deepen this understanding. What strategies or materials do you use to teach about genocide beyond the Holocaust?
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Amber Llewellyn , thank you for this important post. I just showed the Armenian Genocide OER Project video for the first time and I like that it defines genocide and explains to students that it's a fairly new word in the English language. The guiding questions that accompany it were helpful as well. At the end of the video, we discussed the connections between WWI and the Armenian Genocide and my students brought up a lot of thoughtful points about scapegoats and how technology and the total war nature of WWI may have contributed to the genocide.
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One resource that I always use is Genocide Watch's Ten Stages of Genocide. You can find resources here: https://www.genocidewatch.com/tenstages. However, also do a basic search and you can come up with lots of visual to go along with it. Most students know something about the Holocaust so I have them match up descriptions of the Holocaust to the Stages of Genocide.
This year, I also found this lesson plan on the Armenian Genocide. I particularly liked how it had a section on what can be done at each stage to prevent or stop genocide. I turned that into a simple exit ticket having students read the passage and then writing one way they or their country could respond to genocide at that stage.
There's also several great Ted-Ed videos that you could use along with the OER Armenian Genocide video that Erin Cunningham mentioned including one on Cambodia, one on Rwanda, and one on Armenia as well.
