museum trip project

1. Why Remember? The entranceway to the Museum has two biblical quotation carved into its granite walls: Remember…Never forget,” [Deuteronomy 25:17, 19] and “There is hope for your future” [Jeremiah 31:16]. Discuss your answers and write an essay considering why the Museum would have chosen these as its inspiration.
What should we remember, and why?
On what should humanity as a whole hope for the future?
On what do you base your hope for the future?

2. Ethnicity and Identity – Identity, or who you are, is a complicated thing. For many Jews, their religion is a significant part of their identity. In an essay, discuss your own ethnic, cultural, and/or religious identities.
How much of your identity comes from your ethnic, cultural, or religious group? Where else does your identity come from?
How do you express your identity?
Do you identify yourself the same way others identify you? Why or why not?

Hitler persecuted people based in their racial and political backgrounds.
What does it mean to have the freedom of religion? What freedoms are we guaranteed by the U.S Bill of Rights?
How would it affect you if you didn’t have freedom of religion?

Many German Jews identified as Germans as well as Jews, but Hitler took away their citizenship and labeled them enemies of Germany.
How much of your identity comes from being American? What if your American identity were taken away from you?

3. Making Choices – Sometimes historical developments force people to make difficult choices. To varying degrees, we all have to confront difficult decisions in our lives. Sometimes the group we are part of is doing something that we know is wrong, but there is tremendous pressure to conform. Using examples from your lives, write an essay about a moment in which you were not able to withstand the pressure to do something in which you privately disapproved. Imagine how you would do things differently in the future. Create a short scene about what did happen and what could have happened.

4. Hate Crimes - Racism and bigotry continue today. Collect information about hate crimes from newspapers, television, and/or the internet. Create a bulletin board in the classroom to raise awareness about these heinous acts. Also, write your reactions to these events. For example:
What similarities are there among the groups or individuals that commit these crimes? Whom do they target?
How are the above groups different from the Nazis?
What kind of actions do we take to counter these crimes?
How do you answer revolutionists who deny that the Holocaust ever happened?