What This Guide Is
The Holocaust: A Study Guide for Teachers is a comprehensive resource for educators teaching the Holocaust and its historical contexts. Developed by Gary M. Grobman and first published in 1990, it remains a widely adopted Holocaust curricula in American schools.
Teachers should read through the entire guide and then consider in what manner parts of it can be used through various subjects in a school environment.
The first responsibility of the teacher is to teach the event. The actual history must be the foundation for any critical understanding and pursuit of the issues related to the Holocaust.
Why This Guide Matters
Between 1933 and 1945, one of history’s defining atrocities unfolded in Europe: the systematic destruction of millions of Jews and other groups deemed “undesirable” by the Nazi regime. Grobman’s Guide asks the questions that make this study essential: How could this happen? What patterns of thinking and behavior enabled genocide? Could it happen again—here, now?
By understanding the historical forces, ideologies, and human choices that led to the Holocaust, students develop the tools to recognize and oppose such thinking in their own time. This Guide moves beyond documenting atrocities. Instead, it traces the intellectual and historical foundations—the history of anti-Semitism, the rise of Nazism, the bureaucratic machinery of the regime—so that students understand not just what happened, but why.
The Guide also acknowledges the intellectual honesty required when teaching contested history. Historians and scholars often disagree on interpretations, emphasis, and meaning. This Guide presents the most credible scholarship while leaving room for informed classroom discussion and debate.
About This Resource
Author: Gary M. Grobman
Original Publication: The Holocaust: A Guide for Pennsylvania Teachers, Pennsylvania Department of Education (Harrisburg) and Millersville University, 1990
Library of Congress Catalog Number: 90-61728
Call Numbers: D810.J4.G67 1990; 940.5315 G873h
Current Holdings: Penn State University Libraries, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and other academic institutions
Table of Contents
- How to Use This Guide
- Preface
- Introduction
- Stereotypes and Prejudices
- Who are the Jews?
- Classical and Christian Anti-Semitism
- Modern Anti-Semitism
- Adolf Hitler
- Nazi Fascism And The Modern Totalitarian State
- The Firsts Steps leading to the “Final Solution”
- The Seeds of War and World Conquest
- The “Final Solution”
- Resisters, Rescuers, and Bystanders
- The Aftermath
- Bibliography
How to Use This Guide
This Guide is structured so that educators can teach with confidence and depth—without needing to chase down scattered primary sources or navigate the full complexity of Holocaust history alone.
Each of the 15 chapters below is self-contained and includes:
- A synopsis of the topic
- Clear instructional objectives
- An overview of topics and issues for classroom use
- Vocabulary lists
- Suggested classroom activities and discussion questions
- Evaluation strategies
- Teacher strategies where appropriate
You can work through the entire Guide for a comprehensive approach, or adapt individual chapters to fit your existing curriculum. The structure is flexible by design. Pair the Guide with the accompanying bibliography and resource recommendations for additional depth. Consider inviting Holocaust survivors and liberators to speak with your students. Supplement with documentary films, oral histories, photographs, artwork, and music—these primary and secondary sources, used alongside the Guide, create a powerful teaching experience.
Foundational principle: Teach the actual history first. This historical foundation is what makes critical analysis of the Holocaust’s lessons meaningful and rigorous.
This is the complete The Holocaust: A Guide for Pennsylvania Teachers created by Gary Grobman.
Gary Grobman was the author of The Holocaust: A Guide for Pennsylvania Teachers, a resource published in 1990 by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (Harrisburg) and/or Millersville University (Millersville, PA). The guide is cataloged under call numbers such as 940.5315 G873h and includes bibliographic references, maps, and an index.
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