Many students assume that history has nothing to do with them and therefore is a waste of their time, so finding a way to get involuntary history students truly involved in a topic is always the most challenging aspect of teaching it. As passive listeners they will remember little; as active participants they will remember more and--in at least a…

Examines the influence of Karl Marx's writings on Adolf Hitler, and asks whether there was a causal nexus between Russian and Nazi atrocities. Uses primary sources as a method for historical comparison. Compares Hitler's writings on antisemitism with those of Marx. (NL)

Discusses the availability and utility of the various types of documentation that historians and students can use to research the German government's systematic extermination of the Jews, the Gypsies, and the handicapped during the 1930s and 1940s. Available documents include government records, private agency records, trial records, and…

Analyzes primary document from German Holocaust period in which German bureaucrats described in euphemistic terms the murder of the Jews. Illustrates how the document can be used as a teaching aid by having students replace the euphemisms using words with their intended meaning, and reading it aloud in class. References include sources of…

This unit is part of a continuing series on current foreign policy issues. This unit draws students into a debate on Russia's identity. Unlike previous units of this series, this one is not written from the U.S. perspective. Rather, students are asked to see the world through Russian eyes and to contemplate Russian choices in the areas of economic…