Curriculum & Best Practices

Surviving the Holocaust, By Chance Alone: Max Eisen’s Story was designed to directly support the launch of the new Grade 10 Ontario History curriculum expectations focused on the Holocaust. However, it is also compatible with a variety of Ontario curriculum expectations that are already core to student learning. Grade 10 expectations that address the Holocaust are listed below.

The topic of the Holocaust also appears in Grade 10 Civics and Grade 11 and 12 World History. Specific expectations from those Ontario curriculum strands are also listed below.

Grade 10 – Canadian History Since World War I

C3.2 analyse how Canada and people in Canada, including First Nations, Métis, and/or Inuit individuals and communities, responded or were connected to some major international events and/or developments that occurred during this period (e.g., the Red Scare; the Holodomor; the Spanish Civil War; the Nanking Massacre; aggression by fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and/or imperial Japan; the Holocaust; the Manhattan Project), and assess the significance of the responses/connections, including their significance for identities and heritage in Canada

Sample questions: “Why did the Canadian government refuse to allow the SS St Louis entry into Canada? How did Canadians view this decision at the time? Why? How do Canadians view it now?”
“What is the connection between Canada’s policies with respect to First Nations people and the development of racial policies in Nazi Germany?” “Why would Métis volunteer in large numbers to fight for a country that didn’t recognize them?”

C3.3 analyse the impact of the Holocaust on Canadian society and on the attitudes of people in Canada towards human rights (e.g., with reference to changes in Canadians’ responses to minority groups; more open refugee policies, including those affecting Holocaust survivors and other displaced persons; Canada’s signing of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the evolution of laws against hate crimes)

Sample questions: “Do you think the Holocaust affected Canadians’ views about Canada’s treatment of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit? Why, or why not?”

E3.3 assess the significance of public acknowledgements and/or commemoration in Canada of past human tragedies and human rights violations, both domestic and international (e.g., the Holocaust; the Holodomor; the Armenian, Rwandan, and Srebrenican genocides; the Chinese head tax; the Komagata Maru incident; Ukrainian- and Japanese-Canadian internment; residential schools; the arrest of Viola Desmond; the demolition of Africville; forced relocation of Inuit families; suicide rates among Indigenous youth)

Sample questions: “Do you think that apologies for past human rights abuses provide adequate redress for past wrongs? Why, or why not?” “What social, economic, and/or political factors might contribute to a decision to commemorate, or to issue an apology for, a violation of human rights?” “What events led to Stephen Harper’s statement of apology to former students of Indian Residential Schools in 2008? Did this apology lead to changes in attitudes towards and/or in policies directed at First Nations, Métis, and/or Inuit individuals and communities in Canada? Why or why not?” “What is the significance of the 2016 ruling of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal with respect to inequalities in the funding for child welfare services for First Nations children?” “What were the causes of the 2016 inquest into the deaths of First Nations students in Thunder Bay? What was the significance of this inquest?”

Grade 10 – Civics

C2.2 describe ways in which some events, issues, people, and/or symbols are commemorated or recognized in Canada (e.g., by war memorials and Remembrance Day services; through citizenship awards such as the Order of Canada; by depicting them on postage stamps or currency; in museums; on public plaques; by naming streets or public spaces after them; through observances such as Black History Month, Fête nationale du Québec, Flag Day, Holocaust Day, Holodomor Memorial Day, Human Rights Day, Labour Day, National Aboriginal Day, Persons Day, Pride Week, Victoria Day), and analyse the significance of this recognition.

Sample questions: “What do you think are the most important regional or national symbols in Canada? Who or what do they represent?” “Do you think there are people in your local community or in Canada whose civic contribution has not been formally recognized but should be? Why and how do you think they should be acknowledged?” “What criteria do you think should be used when deciding which events or people to formally recognize?”

Grade 11 – Understanding Canadian Law

C1.2 describe historical and contemporary barriers to the equal enjoyment of human rights in Canada (e.g., unequal access to voting rights; discrimination based on the grounds of race, gender, gender identity; geographic isolation; unequal access to education; residential schools; the Indian Act) and the laws intended to help people overcome such barriers (e.g., the Canadian Bill of Rights, the Ontario Human Rights Code, the Canadian Human Rights Act)

Sample questions: “What legal remedies are available to help members of groups who face barriers to employment or career advancement (e.g., women, people with disabilities, LGBT persons, single parents, racial/ethnic minorities)? How have some laws addressed these barriers? What are some ways in which these laws may need to be strengthened?” “What are some legal actions that have been taken in Canada to respond to ethnically motivated hate crimes (e.g., crimes such as assaults on Asian Canadian anglers, James Keegstra’s denial of the Holocaust)? In the Keegstra case, what competing rights were involved?”

Grade 11 – World History since 1900: Global and Regional Interactions

C2.2 explain the main causes and consequences of World War II (e.g., causes: the impact of the Treaty of Versailles; militarism; expansionism of Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, and imperial Japan; consequences: civilian and military casualties, the Holocaust, displaced persons, the creation of the United Nations [UN], the partition of Germany)

Sample questions: “What decisions were reached at the Allied conferences at Yalta and Potsdam? What changes arose from these decisions? What were their short- and long-term consequences?” “What were the consequences of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?”

E2.4 analyse some significant interactions between diverse groups during this period, including those characterized by violence and/or deprivation of rights as well as those characterized by cooperation (e.g., with reference to segregation in the American South; apartheid in South Africa; residential school systems; the Holocaust, the Holodomor, and/or the Armenian, Rwandan, or Srebrenican genocides; political repression in Chile, El Salvador, Iran, or Zimbabwe; forced labour in Soviet gulags, Nazi concentration camps, or Chinese “re-education camps”; cooperation through international courts of justice, the United Nations, foreign aid)

Sample questions: “What were the causes of the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square? What was the response of the Chinese government? What were its consequences?” “What are some countries that have established truth and reconciliations commissions? Why did they establish these commissions? Do you think they were successful? Why or why not?”

Grade 12 – Adventures in World History

D2.6 analyse some key developments related to human rights during this period (e.g., the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire and the United States and serfs in Russia; the extension of the vote to women in many countries; the Geneva Conventions; the Holocaust, Holodomor, or other genocides; the end of segregation in the United States or apartheid in South Africa; human rights non-governmental organizations)

Sample questions: “How important do you think UN declarations such as the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples are for human rights around the world?” “Do you think that, overall, human rights have improved during this period? What are some forces that still present a challenge to the struggle for human rights?” “Who are some people and groups who fought for, or are fighting for, for human rights?”