hooks for a holocaust essay

150 Holocaust Essay Topics & Examples

Looking for good titles for a Holocaust project? This is one of the most tragic parts of WW2 that is definitely worth studying.

🔝 Top 10 Holocaust Questions for Essays

📝 holocaust essay: how to write, 🏆 holocaust essay examples & topics, 📌 holocaust thesis ideas, ✍️ holocaust essay topics for college, 💡 most interesting holocaust topics to write about, ❓ holocaust essay questions.

The most popular Holocaust essay topics are:

The Holocaust and its causes
Nazi human experiments as a part of the Holocaust
Jewish ghettos in Poland
The establishment of Auschwitz concentration camp
The consequences of the Holocaust

Below you can find much more ideas. In this article, we’ve collected Holocaust thesis ideas and questions for essays. They will suite for middle school, high school, and college-level assignments. You’ll also find tips on writing your introduction, conclusion, and formulating a thesis statement, together with Holocaust essay examples. Write an ️A+ paper with us!

What were the ideological causes of the Holocaust?
How was anti-Jewish legislation in Germany established?
What were the goals of the Nazi Euthanasia Program?
How and where were the largest ghettos created?
How did the concentration camp system expand across Europe?
What were the three types of ghettos?
How did the resistance efforts in the ghettos look like?
Who were the key opponents of Nazism inside and outside Germany?
How did the US government respond to Nazism?
What were the consequences of the Holocaust?

The Holocaust has affected millions of people around the world. It is one of the most tragic and problematic topics of history. Holocaust essays help students to understand the issue better, analyzing its causes and consequences.

Organizing an essay on the Holocaust may be challenging, as there are many aspects to cover. We have developed some tips to help you through the process.

First, choose the Holocaust issue you want to discuss. Select one of the titles to work on. Some of the Holocaust essay topics include:

Concentration camps in today’s Europe
Lessons from the Holocaust: Fostering tolerance
Present and future of the Holocaust research
The causes of the Holocaust and discrimination against Jewish people
How could people have stopped the Holocaust?
Political issues behind the Holocaust
The effects of the Holocaust on its survivors
The factors and issues that contributed to Nazism

You can choose one of these holocaust essay questions or ask your professor for suggestions. Once that you have selected the topic of your essay, you can start working on the paper.

A well-developed structure is highly significant for an outstanding essay. Here are some tips on how to develop a structure for the paper:

Think of the Holocaust essay prompts you want to discuss first. You can do preliminary research to see what issues you should cover.
Ask your professor about the type of essay you should write. If it is an argumentative essay, you will need to leave space for at least one refutation paragraph and a rebuttal paragraph.
Include an introductory paragraph (or several paragraphs if you are working on a longer essay). This paragraph should include the background information on the Holocaust and the problem you have selected. Discuss the goals of the paper and state your main claim at the end of this section.
The main arguments of your paper will comprise body paragraphs. You may want to dedicate at least one separate paragraph for each of your claims. The number of body paragraphs is up to you, however, we would recommend including at least three of them. Hint: Make smooth transitions between paragraphs to make your paper look more organized.
Remember that at least one body paragraph should state the general information about the Holocaust, its causes, and effects. You may discuss statistical data, global consequences, and primary victims.
While working on a refutation paragraph, do not forget to prove that your arguments are more reasonable that the opposing perspectives. You can dedicate a separate paragraph for a rebuttal.
A concluding section or a summary should state your main arguments again. You can also include a recommendation if necessary.
Important tip: Do not make your paragraphs too short or too long. We would recommend writing between 65 and 190 words per paragraph and not more than 35 words per sentence. Making all body paragraphs of similar length is also a good idea that will make your paper look more professional.
Ask your professor whether you need to include a title page and table of contents. Remember that a reference page is a must, as it includes all sources from the essay.
If you are not sure that the selected structure is good, search for the holocaust essay titles and examples online and see how other students organize their papers. Avoid copying the works you will find.

Remember to look at the samples on our website to get some ideas for your excellent paper!

The Holocaust: Poem “Tears of Blood” The extermination of the Roma was part of the general policy of the National Socialists to destroy political opponents, homosexual people, terminally and mentally ill, drug addicts, and Jews.
Holocaust and Bosnian Genocide Comparison The current paper aims to compare some of the most notable genocides in history, the Holocaust, and the Bosnian mass murder in terms of their aims, death tolls, tactics, and methods.
Critique of Elie Wiesel’s Holocaust Book “Night” Like many books on the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel’s Night is a dramatic picture of the horror times in the history of humankind and particularly in the history of the Jewish people.
US Holocaust Policy During World War II However, the anti-Nazi campaign was not successful, and the main reason for this was the harsh foreign policy of the USA.
Reasons Why the Jews Failed to Resist the Holocaust The award-winning book brings the readers to the lives and experiences of Vladek Spiegelman, a holocaust survivor, and his father during the period.
Discussion of Holocaust and Immigration In “Holocaust Education and Remembrance in Australia,” Suzanne D.and Suzanne H.discuss the adverse effects and after-issues of immigration among the Jewish community and how it led to the concept that the Holocaust had a long-lasting […]
The Holocaust and the Nakba: Tragedy and Trauma The Nakba refers to the destruction of hundreds of cities and towns and the Palestinian people’s cultural, economic, political, and social backgrounds.
Holocaust Commemoration in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum This paper is relevant to the understanding of virtual exhibit since it highlights the major notions of memorialization that are included in the exhibition.
Holocaust: Traditions and Encounters He was the only presenter in the video: he revealed the question about Sephardic Jews in the Holocaust and answered questions from the audience.
Holocaust: Taking Steps Toward Evil To the Nazi leader, the Jews were an inferior race and were an alien threat to the German racial purity. The Germans blamed the Jews for having lost the World War 1 and accused them […]
A Visit to the Holocaust Museum Houston The museum emphasizes the perils of intolerance, bigotry, and apathy by drawing on the lessons of the Holocaust and other massive genocides.
“Holocaust Horror…” by Moore A considerable number of young people do not have the correct knowledge, and the most disturbing fact is that the Holocaust started to be interpreted in different ways.
The Relationship Between Epigenetics and the Effects of the Holocaust Tests are most likely to identify existing changes of DNA and the proteins related to DNA, which are responsible for the structure of the DNA and the availability of other elements related to the DNA.
The Terror of the Holocaust in the Book “Hana’s Suitcase” by Karen Levine The story “Hana’s Suitcase” by Karen Levine is not fiction, where heroes and the plot are the imagination of the author; it is a documentary story where the situation and named people are real, they […]
The Holocaust and Schindler’s List: Transforming the Human Perception of Violence The World War II genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, changed both the Jewish history and the history of the world, transforming the human perception of violence and religious conflicts.
The Holocaust as a History-Cultural Phenomenon The Holocaust in the narrow sense represents the persecution and mass extermination of Jews who inhabited the German lands, the territories of Hitler’s allies, and the areas occupied during the war.
Art Spiegelman’s Graphic Novel “Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale”: Author’s Understanding of the Holocaust Spiegelman uses mice to represent Jews because of the oppression they experienced while in Hitler’s concentration camps. The mistreatment the Jews experienced is similar to what mice experience in the presence of cats.
Holocaust Museum Exhibition “State of Deception” Generally, evaluating a variety of facts from different sources, it becomes evident that the exhibition “State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda” in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum can be seen as rather […]
Holocaust: Ethnic and Cultural Diversity and the Real Face of Prejudice The holocaust refers to the murder of six million European Jews in the course of the Second World War. The holocaust was the highest level of prejudice in society during the time.
German Attitudes Towards Third Reich and Holocaust Commemoration The Goldhagen debate represents a shift in the attitude of the Germans regarding the commemoration of the Third Reich and the remembrance of the holocaust.
Jewish Holocaust and the Humour During the Dark Times This is the Jewish long tradition of jokes in Judaism that dates back to the Midrash and the Pentateuch but it generally refers to the more recent group of verbs that were first used in […]
Human Response to Holocaust in “Nightfather” and “Fugitive Pieces” It is his memory of the nightmare that keeps him imprisoned, he appears in the camp again and again by the volition of his memory that is eager to play painful tricks with him.
Holocaust Denial: Dynamics of Ethics While keeping this in mind, we will analyze the introduction of “holocaust denial” criminal charges into the penal code of many Western countries that simultaneously take pride in the fact that their democratic form of […]
American’s Reaction to Jewish Holocaust Later when America joined Russia in the war against the Nazi Regime, the action was selective in that it failed to protect the Jews from genocide.
Holocaust: From Discrimination to Concentration Camps The discrimination as said at workplaces and other areas was later to escalate to actual killing with the taking of power by the Nazi party establishing legal backing of their activities with the enactment of […]
Jewish Family’s Experiences During the Holocaust Piecing together everything that I learned from my grandparents and parents, I have come to realize that I was shaped early on by the experience of my ancestors in the Holocaust and in Russia.
Censorship, Holocaust and Political Correctness In this paper, we will focus on exploring different aspects of formal and informal censorship, in regards to a so-called “Holocaust denial”, as we strongly believe that people’s ability to express their thoughts freely is […]
The Holocaust: Auschwitz Concentration Camp History In an attempt to dehumanize the victims of the Nazis and as a testament to the resilience of a few of the inmates of the camps, the mentality of the brutal Nazis is worth a […]
Vatican and Holocaust: Did Pope help Jews The couple later stated that they never wanted the Pope to come out in the open and state that he was against the Nazis because then he will become the center of attention and to […]
Holocaust: What Were Its Causes and Effects? After the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazis, the goal of the Nazis was to murder every individual of Jewish origin, which the Nazis defined as anyone with a trace of Jewish “blood” dating […]
Henry Orenstein: Holocaust Survivor and Entrepreneur The Nazi regime, were under the impression that the Germans were ‘racially superior’ to the Jews and believed that the Jews were somehow lesser than them.
The Holocaust: Historical Analysis The Holocaust, now the example of Jewish pain, has long stopped to be a piece of history, and is now regarded by spiritual and material alike, as a piece of divinity – a sacred text […]
The Holocaust: Planned Physical Extermination In this essay, we are going to concentrate particularly on the point of the Holocaust in the countries of Eastern and Western Europe, namely the extermination of Jews that took place in Romania and France […]
Holocaust Tragedy in Nazi Germany Since the forties of the twentieth century, another such theory, called the Holocaust, came into use in the context of the mass extermination of Jews in Europe by the Nazis. It is the education of […]
The Holocaust: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation The sanctity of life should therefore be respected at all costs and so humanity should strive to coexist in peace and harmony in a manner that is sustainable to prevent the reoccurrence of such atrocities […]
A Visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC People visited the museum to learn about the atrocities caused to the Jews by the Nazi administration, headed by Hitler. The other piece I learned is that in the museum there was a video of […]
Holocaust in “Maus” Graphic Novel by Art Spiegelman It is quite peculiar that Spiegelman uses only the black-and-white color perhaps, this is another means to emphasize the gloomy atmosphere of the Nazi invasion and the reign of the anti-Semite ideas.
Post-Holocaust and Imprisonment Literary Works It is possible that Celan uses repetition to express the feelings of repetitiveness that he and the other people felt during the imprisonment.
Virginia Holocaust Museum’s Genocide Presentation In terms of the educational objective, I aimed to learn the aspects and details of the Holocaust through the artifacts, objects, and things that belonged to people experiencing these events’ atrocities.
Virginia Holocaust Museum Trip and Experience I wanted to make sure that I could listen to myself and truly feel what the Holocaust was for humanity and is for me. I felt outraged that someone could think they had the right […]
Virginia Holocaust Museum Field: Trip Reflection I must admit that the very fact of listening to the voice of somebody who went through the horrors of the Holocaust proved to be at least as revealing as all of the artifacts and […]
The Poetry of the Holocaust Period In conclusion, it seems appropriate to state that Sutzkever is a metaphysical poet as his creative thought focuses on the beauty of nature and the truthful presentation of events.
The Public Memory of the Holocaust In addition to his pain, Levi concerns the increasing temporal distance and habitual indifference of hundreds of millions of people towards the Holocaust and the survivors1 It causes the feeling of anxiety that was fuelled […]
History of the Holocaust They can be outlined as follows: the historical legacy of anti-Semitism in Europe, the particulars of the German national character /the fact that the Nazis did succeed in dehumanizing the Jews, and the irrational hatred […]
Holocaust and Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt This paper is devoted to the analysis of the Holocaust in general and the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt in particular. The judges represented the states which were the main winners in the war: Great Britain, […]
Holocaust Memorial Museum Textiles, for example, badges, uniforms, flags, costumes, and banners are also housed in the museum. Other types of materials housed in the museum are works on paper, such as announcements, posters, broadsides, and maps.
Holocaust in “Survival in Auschwitz” by Primo Levi Another issue that needs to be discussed is that the economy of Germany was hurt because of the World War I, and it has affected the pride of the nation.
1942-1945 Holocaust: Nazi Germany’s Political Reasons Started in 1942 and taking place until the end of the war, the Holocaust was the genocide of Jewish people arranged by Hitler and implemented by the Nazi army.
Holocaust vs. Japanese Colonial Era in Korea The Holocaust in the history of Jewish people, as well as Japanese occupation in the history of Korean people, was one of the greatest tragedies.
Holocaust, Antisemitism, and Propaganda That is why, nowadays great attention is given to issues which led to the death of millions of people. Being a part of the ideology of Nazism, it led to the elimination of a great […]
The Holocaust Effects: Books “Tzili” and “Wartime Lies” The natural experiences of growing up are changed and twisted by the war and its horrors, but the specific developments, their perceptions, and impacts are affected by the children’s personalities and circumstances of their lives, […]
Nazi Medical Experiments During the Holocaust The information is maintained by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This photograph is maintained and produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The Holocaust and Jehovas Witnesses The concept of “spiritual resistance” in the case of members of Jehovah’s Witness during the era of the Nazis in Germany focused primarily on continuing the acts associated with their faith despite the persecution they […]
Holocaust: Nazi Anti-Jewish Policies and Actions The major policy that the Nazi implemented was the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service that excluded Jews from government jobs.
Holocaust and Nazi’s Racial Imperialism The scholar argues that the event was a result of the racial imperialism championed by the Nazi Party in the country.
Adolf Hitler and a History of the Holocaust Before going any further it is important to point out the kind of mindset that the German people had back then that made it easier for Hitler to convince them to join him in a […]
The Holocaust History: the Jewish Community Destruction To achieve its objective, the paper will expound on why the Nazi government targeted the Jews, why did these attacks come during this specific period, the role that average German citizens played and the overall […]
Holocaust History, Its Definition and Causes Also notable about racism is the fact that it may take several forms and it is not just limited to the literal meaning of racism like the skin color, the size of the eyes, and […]
Holocaust Experience in the Book ‘Night’ by Elie Wiesel Eliezer’s depiction in the story as the main character in the story is that of a humble and religious young man.
The Jewish Holocaust Novel ‘Night’ by Eliezer Wiesel Generally, Eliezer admired the fact that his father was prayerful and he kept his utmost faith in God even in the time of oppression.
History of the Jews and the Holocaust The Nazi regime and its partners became the pioneers of the Holocaust. That being the case, the anti-Semitism ideas and prejudices experienced in Germany before the Second World War led to the infamous Holocaust.
Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory by Deborah Lipstadt The book is divided into chapters that focus on the history and methods that are used to distort the truth and the memory of the Holocaust.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Since its inception in 1993, the museum has served as the nation’s reminder when it comes to issues of the holocaust.
Iran and Israel’s Nuclear Holocaust and the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Position As such conflict would put a serious threat to the safety of the region, the policy aims at the acceptance of nuclear deal and the development of the effective course of actions aimed at eliminating […]
Liberal Democracy, Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust The Nazis and other populist political movements in Germany believed that the Jews had undue influence in the country through their prominent positions in the media and the financial system4.
Was the Holocaust the failure of or the product of Modernity? The date that traditionally marks the beginning of modernist era is 1453, when the City of Constantinople was conquered by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, as far as this date symbolized the end of the Byzantine […]
Reconsidering the History: Holocaust Denial. The XXI Century Prospects Despite the fact that Holocaust was one of the hideous crimes against the humanity that is never to occur again, some tend to represent the tragic event as the stage of the history that people […]
Nazi Germany & Holocaust The Nazi movement is a revolutionary movement that was associated with the mass murder of Jews and Communists in an attempt to restore the reputation of Germany at the international level. The Nazi regime under […]
The Holocaust and Nazi Germany The rise of the Nazis to power in 1933 led to the establishment of thousands of concentration camps, which were centers of mass murders of Jews.
The Holocaust and Jews Extermination The Nazis perceived Internationalism in the context of the Holocaust to be a global perspective primarily held and advocated by Jews who were using it as a method designed to dominate the whole world.
The Holocaust: Analysis of Life in the Kovno, Warsaw and Lodz Ghettos Due to the continued capturing and shooting of the Jews at the forts, Rabbi Shapiro felt that the Jews should be separated from the Lithuanians to live into the Ghetto and thus a seven member […]
How Holocaust Has Been Projected by the Different Historians Over the Years? Several historians claimed that it was unfair as it was an act of barbarism and it promoted wicked behavior with the innocent people of Jewish community while on the other hand, it was said that […]
Jewish Insight of Holocaust Holocaust, the extermination of Jews from the European land was the example of brutality and viciousness of the Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, many historians were observing the situation critically and wanted to present their ideas about […]
Shooting At the Holocaust Museum According to the incident report, von Brunn entered the museum and shot the guard. His motive was to hold the board members who were in the building hostage for the economic difficulties that the country […]
The Nazi Holocaust’s Effects This study aims at analyzing the claim that social and psychological effects of the Holocaust linger in areas of political systems in which the survivors of the holocaust currently reside.
The History of the Holocaust Hitler said that the root cause of the problems were the despicable Jews of Europe. The direct victims were the Jews but the rest of the world understood the consequences of inaction and the lack […]
Holocaust and the Cold War Cold war refers to the military and political tension between the United States of America and the Soviet Union immediately after the World War 2.
Reinhard Heydrich’s Role in the Holocaust With the help of his boss: Himmler[7], they used political forces to influence the police in an attempt to ensure the consolidation of the Nazi administration in the entire nation of Germany[8].
Doris Bergen: Nazi’s Holocaust Program in “War and Genocide” The discussion of the Holocaust cannot be separated from the context of the World War II because the Nazi ideology of advancing the Aryans and murdering the undesirable people became one of the top reasons […]
The ‘Banality’ of Abstraction: Western Philosophy’s Failure to Address the Moral Implications of the Holocaust Additionally, I would like to address the relationship of Arendt and Heidegger in the context of The Holocaust, and the effect that it had upon their philosophical works.
Conduction of The Holocaust Propaganda against Jews The common media the Nazis used for the campaign against the Jews was the Weekly Nazis newspaper, “The attacker”.
Does Global English Mean Linguistic Holocaust? It is not difficult to find examples of the extinction of languages in the wake of the introduction of English. Some of the most active areas of extinction include the American West, where a variety […]
The Horror of the Holocaust in Different Styles of Writing One of the thematic thread that unites these three works of the writers from different countries is their attempt to reproduce how cruel and unfair the actions of the Nazi were. The Holocaust, the judgment […]
Peter Eisenman; Building Germany, the Holocaust Memorial The Jews were not the Nazi’s only victims during the holocaust, other casualties were the weak and disabled people in the society, who were killed on the pretext of the Euthanasia program.
The Holocaust: A German Historian Examines the Genocide The Holocaust: A German Historian Examines the Genocide deals with one of the most debatable issues of the history of the twentieth century, i.e.
The Holocaust: Religion, Race and Ethnicity Discrimination
Holocaust Resistance: The Largest Jews Revolt Holocaust
The Violent Conditions and Dehumanization Faced by the Jewish People During the Holocaust
Analysis of the Causes of the Holocaust in Germany
The Anger and Bewilderment of Holocaust Survivors
Racist and Hate Crimes During the Holocaust
The Long-Lasting Impact of the Holocaust on the Survivors
The Holocaust, and the Statistics of the Tragic Events
General Information About the Holocaust Was Genocide Against the Jewish Race
The Causes and Effects the Holocaust Was Responsible for the Death of 6 Million
Overview of the Chinese Holocaust and Experiments on Living People
The Goals and Impact of the Holocaust Camps in Germany
General Information About the Horrible Events That Took Place During the Holocaust
The Different Killing Methods Used by the Nazi Germans During the Holocaust
The U.S. Government’s Disregard of the Jewish Holocaust
Survivor’s Syndrome Among Holocaust Survivors
The German Holocaust: Treatment of the Germans After WWII
Holocaust Survivor Testimonies: Time, Methodology and Memory
The Link Between Nazi Propaganda and the Holocaust
Holocaust Survivor Bewilderment and Anger
Stolen Art Literature and Music of the Holocaust
The Genesis and History of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany
The Knowledge About the Holocaust To Avoid the Same Experience
Analysis of the Holocaust and the Crisis of Human Behavior
The Horrific Experience and Fate of the Children During the Holocaust
How Did the Holocaust Affect the Jewish Community?
How Does the American Holocaust Show the Huge Decline of Native Americans?
Was German “Eliminationist Anti Semitism” Responsible for the Holocaust?
How Were Jews Treated During the Holocaust?
What Is the Relationship Between Holocaust and Genocide?
How the Holocaust Took Away the Rights of Jewish People?
What Was the Strength of the Nazis During the Holocaust?
With Whom Does Responsibility for the Holocaust Ultimately Lie?
How the Pope Affected the Holocaust?
What Events Led to the Holocaust in Germany?
How Was Survival Possible in the Death Camps of the Holocaust?
Were the Jehovah’s Witnesses Really Affected by the Holocaust?
Why Does God Permit Tragic Events Like the Holocaust Terrorist Attacks?
What Was Hitler’s Role in the Holocaust?
Why Is Peter Eisenman Building a Memorial to the Victims of the Holocaust in Germany?
How Does the Holocaust Compare to One Other Form of Modern Genocide (Kurdish Genocide)?
What Are the Problems Between Jews and Christians That Caused the Holocaust?
How Did Oskar Schindler Act During the Holocaust?
What Prejudices Were There During the Holocaust?
How Did People Avoid Removal During the Holocaust?
What Kind of Medical Experiments Were Carried Out During the Holocaust?
How Did the Holocaust Affect Ordinary People?
What Are the Proposals for Preventing a New Holocaust?
How Did the U.S. React to the Holocaust in Germany?
Why Was the World Silent During the Holocaust?
How the Holocaust Affected Its Jewish Victims?
What Are the Consequences of the Holocaust and Its Consequences for the Jews and the Rest of the Population?
How the Holocaust Explodes the Concept of Mass Crime?
Why Are Jews Demanding Compensation for Holocaust Damage?
What Economic and Social Conditions Led to the Holocaust?
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Home — Essay Samples — History — Nazi Germany — Holocaust

Essays on Holocaust

Hook examples for holocaust essays, the unimaginable horror hook.

Begin your essay by vividly describing the unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust, such as concentration camps, mass extermination, and the human suffering that occurred during this dark period in history. Use powerful and descriptive language to evoke emotions in your readers.

The Survivor's Testimony Hook

Share a compelling personal testimony of a Holocaust survivor. Use direct quotes or excerpts from survivors' accounts to provide firsthand insights into the experiences and resilience of those who lived through the Holocaust.

The Nuremberg Trials and Justice Hook

Discuss the Nuremberg Trials and the pursuit of justice for the perpetrators of the Holocaust. Highlight the importance of holding individuals accountable for their actions and the establishment of principles for international law.

The Heroes of the Holocaust Hook

Introduce the stories of individuals who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, such as Oskar Schindler or Raoul Wallenberg. Emphasize acts of bravery and compassion in the face of extreme adversity.

The Lessons of History Hook

Reflect on the broader lessons and moral implications of the Holocaust. Discuss the importance of remembering and learning from this tragic event to prevent future genocides and promote tolerance and understanding.

The Art and Literature of Survival Hook

Showcase how Holocaust survivors used art, literature, and other forms of expression to cope with their trauma and convey their experiences. Explore the therapeutic and documentary aspects of creative works produced during and after the Holocaust.

The Holocaust in Contemporary Context Hook

Connect the Holocaust to current events, discussing instances of hate crimes, discrimination, and genocide in the modern world. Highlight the importance of remembrance and education to prevent the recurrence of such atrocities.

The Resilience and Hope Hook

Share stories of resilience and hope within the Holocaust, such as clandestine education in concentration camps or acts of solidarity among prisoners. Explore the indomitable human spirit that emerged even in the darkest times.

The Forgotten Victims Hook

Draw attention to less-discussed aspects of the Holocaust, such as the experiences of Romani people, disabled individuals, or political dissidents who also suffered persecution. Shed light on the diversity of victims and their stories.

The Role of Witnesses and Documentation Hook

Discuss the significance of witnesses, both survivors and liberators, who documented the Holocaust through photographs, diaries, and testimonies. Emphasize the importance of preserving and sharing these historical records.

The Trial of Helena Grese

Night by elie wiesel: an analysis of surviving at all costs, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

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The Significance of Elie Wiesel's Night in Holocaust Literature

A report on holocaust during ww2, why people should still be educated about the holocaust, the decline of human ethics and the rise of science: nazi-eugenic experiments and dr. josef mengele, let us write you an essay from scratch.

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Arek Hersh – a Story of a Holocaust Survivor

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Disastrous Event in Jewish History: The Holocaust

Holocaust denial: anti-semitic conspiracy theory, the reasons we should not forget the holocaust, irena sendler - a person who saved hundreds of lifes during holocaust, homosexuality and the holocaust, the physical and mental impact of holocaust on its victims, the influence of jewish music on the holocaust, the holocaust: historical anti-semitism, the possibility of the holocaust to have been avoided, "after i no longer speak"; a message on the impact of the holocaust in "shooting stars", the boy in the striped pajamas - the holocaust drama, understanding the holocaust through "schindler's list", a nazi’s metamorphosis in maxine kumin’s poem "woodchucks", experiences of the survivors in night by elie wiesel and maus by art spiegelman, the use of visual narrative and formal structure in maus: a survivors tale by art spiegelman, analysis of author’s struggles in night by elie wiesel, holocaust through the eyes of a child in the boy in the striped pajamas, the holocaust: chronicle of murders, analysis of artie's impressions of the holocaust in maus, time of savagery: churchill's speech, diary of anne frank and history of shmuel and bruno.

1933 - 1945

German Reich and German-occupied Europe

The Holocaust was a genocidal event that took place during World War II, orchestrated by Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime in Germany. It was a systematic and state-sponsored persecution and mass murder of approximately six million Jews, along with millions of other victims, including Romani people, disabled individuals, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, and others deemed "undesirable" by the Nazis. The Holocaust was marked by horrific atrocities, including the establishment of concentration camps, mass shootings, forced labor, and the implementation of gas chambers in extermination camps. It was an unparalleled act of inhumanity and racial hatred, driven by the Nazis' ideology of racial superiority and the desire to create a homogeneous "Aryan" society.

One such figure is Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl whose diary provided a poignant firsthand account of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. Her diary, discovered after her death in a concentration camp, has become an iconic symbol of hope and resilience. Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist, is another notable person associated with the Holocaust. Through his efforts, Schindler saved the lives of over 1,000 Jewish people by employing them in his factories and ensuring their protection. Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate, dedicated his life to bearing witness to the Holocaust and promoting Holocaust education and remembrance. His powerful memoir, "Night," chronicles his experiences in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat, is remembered for his courageous actions in saving tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews by issuing protective passports and providing safe houses.

The historical context of the Holocaust can be traced back to the rise of Nazi ideology and its virulent antisemitism. Hitler's regime implemented a series of discriminatory laws known as the Nuremberg Laws, which stripped Jews of their rights and subjected them to persecution. This was followed by the establishment of concentration camps and the implementation of the "Final Solution" – a plan to exterminate all Jews within Nazi-controlled territories. The Holocaust occurred within the broader context of World War II, as Nazi Germany sought to expand its territories and exert dominance over Europe. The war provided a cover for the implementation of mass murder and allowed the Nazis to carry out their genocidal agenda with relative impunity.

The Holocaust has had a profound impact on international law and the concept of human rights. The Nuremberg Trials, held after World War II, established the precedent for prosecuting individuals for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, was a direct response to the atrocities of the Holocaust, emphasizing the inherent dignity and rights of all individuals. The Holocaust also serves as a reminder of the dangers of prejudice and discrimination. It has prompted ongoing efforts to combat antisemitism, racism, and bigotry in all forms. The Holocaust education and memorialization have become vital tools in raising awareness and fostering tolerance, ensuring that the lessons of the past are not forgotten. Furthermore, the Holocaust has inspired countless works of literature, art, and film, which bear witness to the horrors experienced by its victims. These creative expressions serve as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the importance of remembering the past to prevent similar atrocities in the future.

Public opinion on the Holocaust varies, but it is generally characterized by shock, horror, and condemnation. The Holocaust is widely regarded as one of the most egregious crimes against humanity in history, and the vast majority of people view it with deep sorrow and sympathy for the victims. Public opinion acknowledges the gravity of the Holocaust and recognizes its impact on the world. The overwhelming sentiment is one of condemnation towards the Nazi regime and the individuals who perpetrated these heinous acts. People express profound empathy for the millions of innocent lives lost and the immense suffering endured by survivors. Moreover, public opinion acknowledges the importance of remembering the Holocaust as a means of honoring the victims and preventing future atrocities. Holocaust education and commemorative events have garnered significant support, with many recognizing the need to preserve the memory of the Holocaust as a stark reminder of the consequences of hatred and prejudice.

Film: Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List" (1993) is a critically acclaimed movie based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of over a thousand Jewish refugees during the Holocaust. The film vividly portrays the atrocities and human suffering while highlighting acts of bravery and compassion. Literature: Elie Wiesel's memoir "Night" (1956) provides a firsthand account of his experiences as a Holocaust survivor. It is a powerful and haunting narrative that has become a significant literary work, capturing the physical and emotional hardships endured by those subjected to Nazi persecution. Art: The artwork of Holocaust survivor and painter Samuel Bak often explores the themes of loss, resilience, and memory. His paintings depict scenes from his own experiences as a child during the Holocaust, offering a deeply personal and introspective perspective on the tragedy.

1. The Holocaust witnessed the systematic annihilation of six million Jewish individuals at the hands of the Nazis. This accounts for approximately two-thirds of the Jewish population in Europe at that time. 2. The Holocaust took place between 1941 and 1945 during World War II, primarily in German-occupied territories. It involved the mass extermination of Jews, as well as other groups such as Romani people, Poles, disabled individuals, and political dissidents. 3. Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest concentration and extermination camp, was responsible for the deaths of over one million people. Other notorious camps include Treblinka, Sobibor, and Dachau. 4. The Nuremberg Laws, implemented in 1935, stripped Jews of their citizenship, rights, and protections. These laws laid the foundation for the persecution and eventual mass murder of Jews during the Holocaust. 5. Rescuers, such as Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg, risked their lives to save Jews from persecution. Their heroic actions demonstrated courage and compassion in the face of immense danger.

The topic of the Holocaust is of utmost importance to write an essay about due to its profound historical significance and the lessons it teaches us about humanity. By exploring the Holocaust, we delve into one of the darkest periods in human history, where millions of innocent lives were brutally extinguished. Writing an essay about the Holocaust allows us to honor and remember the victims, ensuring that their stories are never forgotten. It serves as a powerful reminder of the consequences of unchecked hatred, discrimination, and prejudice. Through examining the causes, events, and aftermath of the Holocaust, we gain a deeper understanding of the depths of human cruelty and the dangers of ideological extremism. Moreover, studying the Holocaust prompts critical reflection on the importance of promoting tolerance, empathy, and respect for human rights. It compels us to confront the potential for evil within society and to actively work towards creating a world that rejects bigotry and embraces diversity. By writing an essay on the Holocaust, we contribute to the preservation of historical memory, promote empathy and understanding, and strive to ensure that such atrocities are never repeated. It is a testament to our commitment to learning from the past and building a more compassionate and just future.

1. Browning, C. R. (1992). Ordinary men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the final solution in Poland. Harper Perennial. 2. Dawidowicz, L. S. (1981). The war against the Jews, 1933-1945. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. 3. Evans, R. J. (2008). The Third Reich at war: How the Nazis led Germany from conquest to disaster. Penguin. 4. Gilbert, M. (1985). The Holocaust: A history of the Jews of Europe during the Second World War. Henry Holt and Company. 5. Kershaw, I. (2000). Hitler: 1936-1945: Nemesis. W. W. Norton & Company. 6. LaCapra, D. (2004). History, memory, and representation: An essay in cognitive historiography. Cornell University Press. 7. Levi, P. (1986). Survival in Auschwitz. Touchstone. 8. Snyder, T. (2010). Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin. Basic Books. 9. Wiesel, E. (2006). Night. Hill and Wang. 10. Yahil, L. (1991). The Holocaust: The fate of European Jewry, 1932-1945. Oxford University Press.

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There's no easy way to write about the Holocaust

Sometimes a concept is so mesmerisingly dreadful that you need something blindingly good to blot it out. So after reading about Anne Frank the musical I spent yesterday evening reading Paul Celan 's poetry.

Why is the idea of Anne Frank the musical so outstandingly emetic? The Anne Frank Foundation has given the Spanish production its blessing after the composer spent 10 years of trying to get it off the ground and I am prepared to concede that the actual production might be so brilliant it blows all preconceptions out of the water. But still the idea appals. There is something beyond bad taste in trying to squeeze show-stopping numbers out of the real diary of an adolescent girl destined to be slaughtered by the state.

What worries me about Anne Frank the musical is not that it is bad taste squared, but that it is a brand of tastelessness in which we've come to indulge too often where the Holocaust and creativity are concerned. I'm talking about the way the Holocaust has become a cheap and easy emotional staple - a cathartic-free-for-all - in creative writing classes, particularly for young people.

Musicals give us pumped-up-and-easy emotional hooks and I fear this is the path we have gone down in using the Holocaust as creative writing material. There's a troubling "write something creative" approach that has crept into teaching of the subject. In 2007 the Aegis Trust ran a creative writing competition on the Holocaust for school students, one of the instructions being to "Reflect upon your own feelings and thoughts (and the impact upon you) of learning about the Holocaust". Similarly, a creative writing project in Washington DC that runs a course with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum encourages students to " work on their own creative responses to the moral and ethical issues raised". Narcissism has run riot indeed when we teach young people the Holocaust is all about YOU and your creative responses.

What I particularly dislike about the get-creative-with-the-Holocaust brigade is that they seek to provoke an all-too-easy emotional response in the individual. The overwrought products of creative writing competitions and courses that focus on the Holocaust bear witness to this . Such queasy "self-expression" has not helped us think more deeply about the Holocaust, but made it an easy cue for very cheap pathos. If you think I overstate this case let me give you one example from the Holocaust Memorial Day's information leaflet about this year's theme, Imagine.

The leaflet advises that a "first step to empathy" might be to imagine an event in which you felt disorientated, such as your first day at work or being unable to speak the language in a foreign country. Such inane empathy-by-numbers is nonsense and we all know it. Most of us do not know what it "felt" like and it's the height of self-indulgence to pretend that we can. Professor Frank Furedi has warned that the "Holocaust is not for sale" and it is a warning we would do well to heed.

I do not think that the Holocaust is off-limits to the arts - only that it's best left to great artists who won't indulge in emotional narcissism. This is why I read Paul Celan last night, and urge you to do so, too . His complicated poetry, drawing on first hand experience of lethal persecution in the war years, takes work to try to understand, and it doesn't offer easy emotions. Any proper artistic response to the Holocaust will, like these brilliant poems, challenge hearts and minds. But if you want to look at one of history's most troubling and difficult questions, only troubling and difficult art will do.

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Oskar Schindler: The Man and the Hero (Holocaust Essays)

Holocaust essays, holocaust essays:, oskar schindler: the man and the hero.

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section History of the Holocaust

Introduction, general overviews.

Jewish Responses in Germany to Persecution during the Prewar Period, 1933–1941
The Third Reich, the German Public, and Nazi Anti-Semitism
Racial Science
Other Victims
Final Solution: Decision-Making Process
Killing by Shooting: Einsatzgruppen and Their Compatriots
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Women in the Holocaust
Economic Aspects of the Holocaust
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Church Responses
Memoirs, Diaries, and Oral Histories as Historical Sources
Holocaust Historiography

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History of the Holocaust by Deborah Lipstadt LAST REVIEWED: 18 August 2021 LAST MODIFIED: 26 May 2016 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199840731-0127

Many historians consider the Holocaust, the systematic murder of approximately six million Jews during 1941–1945, as one of the defining moments, if not a touchstone, of the political, ethical, and religious discourse of the 20th century. It is the only time that a state, as opposed to an insurgent entity or a group of independent actors, determined to murder every member of a particular group, irrespective of their age, gender, education, location, political or religious outlook, or national identity. Any Jew across the European continent and beyond (e.g., Libya, Crete, and Rhodes) whom the Germans could lay their hands on became a potential victim. As a result of this program, which the Germans called the Final Solution, nearly two-thirds of world Jewry was murdered. The Nazis considered killing the Jews such an urgent and necessary act that even when they were losing the war they pursued this goal. From the earliest history of the Nazi Party in the 1920s, the party cast the Jew as an existential threat to the German nation. While the Nazis made the threat posed by the Jews a cornerstone of their ideology and were intent on murdering all Jews they could find, they also targeted other groups. The first to be mass murdered were those inhabitants of the Reich—“Aryans” and Jews—whom the Nazis deemed to be physically or mentally disabled and consequently “unworthy of life.” German authorities also severely persecuted German homosexuals and murdered many eastern European (particularly Slav and Polish) intellectuals and religious leaders. They also killed two to three million Soviet prisoners of war. Millions of slave laborers, particularly from eastern Europe, served in horrendous conditions, and many died as a result. The mass killings of Jews took part in two phases. The first one started in June 1941, after the invasion of the Soviet Union. Conducted by special German units called the Einsatzgruppen and Ordnungspolizei (Order Police) with extensive aid of the Wehrmacht (German army) and non-German local militia, police, and civilians, these mass shootings resulted in the murder of over a million Jews. By the end of 1941, German authorities, concerned about the emotional toll the shooting was taking on the shooters, introduced gas buses and then gas chambers.

The vast geographic reach of the Holocaust presents a challenge to historians who want to address its broadest contours. There is an immense body of research on a myriad of aspects of the topic. This makes the need for syntheses all the more crucial. Hilberg 1985 is one of the earliest comprehensive studies of the bureaucratic structure of the Final Solution. It is highly detailed and remains a standard. More-readable volumes include Friedländer 1997 and Friedländer 2007 , which take a broader perspective and focus on the victims as well as the perpetrators. Dwork and van Pelt 2002 and Bergen 2009 were written as textbooks for college use, while Longerich 2010 is more recent and includes new archival information. Berenbaum and Peck 2002 and Friedman 2011 are particularly useful in that they each contain a range of articles by leading scholars in the field. Hayes 2015 is a most useful teaching tool with long selections on most of the topics that would be included in an introductory history of the Holocaust. Hayes and Roth 2010 contains articles by leading scholars who both review a particular aspect of the Holocaust and assess the state of the current research on that aspect.

Berenbaum, Michael, and Abraham J. Peck, eds. The Holocaust and History: The Known, the Unknown, the Disputed, and the Reexamined . Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002.

This edited volume contains articles by experts in the field on many of the issues central to the history of the Holocaust, including anti-Semitism within Nazi ideology, the bureaucracy of the Nazi state, the background and motivation of the killers, the concentration camp system, Jewish leadership and resistance, rescuers, onlookers, and the survivor experience.

Bergen, Doris L. War & Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust . 2d ed. Critical Issues in World and International History. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009.

A concise history of the period that also asks some of the broader and more-theoretical questions. An excellent starting point for those with little background or who want an overview of the history and the underlying theoretical issues.

Dwork, Debórah, and Robert Jan van Pelt. Holocaust: A History . London: John Murray, 2002.

This comprehensive textbook artfully weaves together historical data with memoirs and other firsthand sources. Currently, this is one of the best texts for classroom use or to introduce someone to this vast topic.

Friedländer, Saul. Nazi Germany and the Jews . Vol. 1, The Years of Persecution, 1933–1939 . New York: HarperCollins, 1997.

This is a sweeping, authoritative, and exceptionally readable account of the initial years of Nazi rule. Friedländer weaves together evidence from the perpetrators as well as the victims.

Friedländer, Saul. The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939–1945 . 1st ed. New York: HarperCollins, 2007.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in history, this volume elegantly melds the story of the persecution with the experience of the victims.

Friedman, Jonathan C., ed. The Routledge History of the Holocaust . Routledge Histories. New York: Routledge, 2011.

An exceptionally useful edited volume on an array of aspects of the history of the Holocaust, by leading figures in the field. Many of the authors pay particular attention to the evolution of their historical field. The volume serves, therefore, both as a historical and historiographical tool.

Hayes, Peter, ed. How Was It Possible? A Holocaust Reader . Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2015.

Hayes believes the title’s question is answerable. This compendium of highly readable selections from participants, witnesses, and scholars addresses the fundamental issues that ultimately “explain” the Holocaust. It can be a text for a Holocaust history course as well as of interest to those already familiar with the topic.

Hayes, Peter, and John K. Roth, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies . Oxford Handbooks. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

This profoundly useful book recognizes that study of Holocaust history crosses traditional boundaries of academic disciplines. The forty-seven essays in the book summarize the state of the field at the time of publication and delineate future challenges. Each essay is an excellent starting point for someone interested in exploring a particular topic in depth.

Hilberg, Raul. The Destruction of the European Jews . New York: Holmes & Meier, 1985.

Considered one of the most authoritative texts on the destruction process, this book eschews victims’ testimony and relies only on German documents. Though Hilberg addresses the destruction process, not the Jewish response, in a few places he attributes to Jews an ingrained pattern of anticipatory compliance. These observations remain quite controversial.

Longerich, Peter. Holocaust: The Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews . New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

In this expanded version of his German-language Politik der Vernichtung (Munich: Piper, 1998), Longerich analyzes the ideological, political, and personal sources of the genocide. Relying on a wide range of documents, including some that were released only after the unification of Germany, Longerich argues that the Nazi policy concerning the Jews was a central, not an ancillary, aspect of their other policies.

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The Holocaust: Students reflect in award-winning essays, projects

In her award-winning high school essay, Emily Salko asks others to imagine the freedoms that Mira Kimmelman lost as Nazi Germany intensified its persecution of Jews during the Holocaust.

“The freedom that we possess is something that we all take for granted each day,” she wrote. “Ask yourself, are you allowed to attend school? Walk the streets of your town? Ride a bus? Live in your own house? Answering ‘yes’ means that you already have 10 times the freedom that Mira Kimmelman had, and this little freedom is what sparked her appreciation of the things such as the clothes on her back, her shoes, and even her own roof.”

Emily, a sophomore at Oak Ridge High School, is one of the 14 students who won awards in the first Mira Kimmelman “Learning from the Holocaust” Contest in 2021. Kimmelman told her story of surviving the Holocaust to students, civic and religious groups in East Tennessee for more than 50 years before her death in 2019.

Her sons, Benno and Gene Kimmelman, created the essay and project contest for Tennessee high school and middle school students, sponsored by the Tennessee Holocaust Commission, to carry on her legacy and ensure that her voice continues to be heard through her books and recorded talks. The contest offers prize money ranging from $150 to $750.

Emily watched videos of Kimmelman's speeches and read articles about her and about anti-Semitism before writing her essay while she was in the ninth grade. She noticed that Kimmelman, as a teen, chose to take family photos, rather than other possessions, when her family was forced to leave home for a ghetto.

“She was so brave to continue moving forward and just fighting to stay alive for her family,” Emily said of Kimmelman after she received the first place high school essay award. She wrote the essay when the Black Lives Matter movement was gaining attention in the news, and she realized that people facing discrimination need to have strength and resilience.

“I think her biggest message I would continue to use is just kindness toward everyone. You shouldn’t judge people based on who they are as a group, based on race or religion. You should get to know someone,” Emily said. “You should not treat them differently because you might look different or believe in something different.”

Along with the mantra of “never forget” often heard in relation to the Holocaust, Benno and Gene hope students entering the contest learn their mother’s lessons of tolerance and kindness. The essays reflect that, as the students wrote about being moved by her bravery and resilience and about how they are applying her lessons today.

“Many of the essays touched on current injustices and suggested ways they could be addressed,” said contest judge Katie High, of Knoxville, a retired University of Tennessee vice president for academic affairs and a member of the Tennessee Holocaust Commission. “The writers were giving world-wide atrocities serious thought, which was impressive. I wanted to cheer the students, and their teachers, because it was obvious teaching and learning were going on.”

High, who served as interim dean at the UT Martin College of Business after her retirement, said much of the Holocaust Commission’s work is focused on middle school students, and that work becomes more difficult as more Holocaust survivors die.

“When they talk to a group of middle school students and show their tattoos and talk about what it’s like to be in the camps, kids are horrified, but in awe of these survivors, because of their resilience,” High said. “You have planted something in their hearts.”

Emmanuelle Wolf-Dubin, first-place winner in the middle school essay contest, wrote that hearing a rabbi challenge listeners to think not only of Israelis and their suffering but Palestinians, as well, reminded her of Kimmelman’s message of seeing the kindness in all people. Her story, she wrote, is a message of ideals that Emmanuelle can only hope to achieve.

“As a young adult, she would be imprisoned in the deadliest concentration camp called Auschwitz and was forced into the nearly unimaginable march to Bergen-Belsen,” wrote Emmanuelle, a student at Meigs Magnet Middle School in Nashville. “Yet, after all of these horrors at the hands of one of the most evil men in recorded history, she still preached lovingkindness in a world that seemed apathetic to her plight. Instead of focusing on that, she zeroed in on the people who helped, the people of all nationalities, races, and religions who saved her and her counterparts across Europe,” Emmanuelle wrote.

Chloe Collins, a student at Oakdale Middle School in Morgan County, said she read Kimmelman’s first book, "Echoes from the Holocaust," before writing her essay, which was awarded second place in the middle school contest.

“Mira Kimmelman … had to say good-bye to the family she loved, she had all of her dignity stripped away, she saw things that no one should ever have to see, she lived in a world of hate, and she felt unwanted in a country that was once her own,” wrote Chloe, an eighth grader this year. “I am thankful for Mira Kimmelman’s message of hope and tolerance that will live on forever.”

Though not a Tennessee student, Soha Sherwani earned a “Notable Achievement” award from contest judges for her essay comparing the Holocaust with the current Chinese government repression of the Uigher people, a small and mostly Muslim minority.

“The Uigher population is being forced into concentration camps, which are dubbed ‘re-education’ camps by the government, and are forced to partake in direct violations of their Islamic faith,” Soha wrote as a high school senior in Houston, Texas. “The Uighur Muslims are exploited for cheap labor and physically abused ... it is happening again.”

Now a college freshman, Soha said she read about the essay contest online as she was seeking scholarship opportunities and was moved by the emotion in Kimmelman’s words. She could teach and spread love through her pain, Soha said.

“For Ms. Kimmelman, her perception was undoubtedly changed by the two integral lessons she learned surviving the Holocaust: that there are always beacons of light in the darkness and that humanity must uphold its responsibility to learn and act from instances of injustices,” Soha wrote. In her essay, Soha urges those concerned to join her with their voices in protesting, spreading awareness, and educating others on the injustice happening now.

First- and second-place awards for middle school contest projects went to teams of students at Oak Ridge’s Robertsville Middle School.

“The Shoah Proliferates” won first place. The team used an online survey to ask students to allow their names to be used on a poster to help remember the 6 million who died in the Holocaust, saying that people remember what they can be part of. Nathanael Peters, Lennox Pack, Aiden Cantu and Kyleigh Langdale are the team members who created the project, using a QR code for business cards that students used to access the survey. All are ninth graders at Oak Ridge High School now.

A poster with a poem and image of broken glass, symbolizing Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass when Nazis targeted synagogues, was included. Kyleigh created the poster, and Lennox wrote the poem:

Think of them not as 6 million lives lost,

But 6 million lives remembered.

Thousands more put through exhaust,

And families dismembered.

These depressing tales aren’t fiction,

Rather they are tales to stand the test of time.

It is our job to remember,

These lives left devoured.

The second-place team, Julia Hussey, Alia Oakes, Teagan Tate and Audrey Thompson, proposed a mural for a hallway at their school. They created artwork with Holocaust symbols, including barbed wire on a red background on one side, and symbols of peace and hope, including swallows and flowers on a blue background. A Star of David represents martyrdom and heroism.

Haley Braden, second-place high school essay winner from Anderson County High School, wrote that she knew little about the Holocaust before entering the contest. Her essay urges her generation to follow in Kimmelman’s footsteps, to “keep a positive attitude and mindset through the darkest hours. Because with this hope comes peace and love.”

Haley wrote, “We can embody her message when looking at the face of injustice. When you see something that is wrong, be sure to right it. Stand up for people who are treated wrongly and cannot stand up for themselves.”

Elizabeth Bernheisel, of Dyersburg Middle School, focused on Kimmelman’s second book, "Life Beyond the Holocaust: Memories and Realities," in her third-place middle school essay. The book, she wrote, offers insights on how Holocaust survivors recover, rebuild and live normal lives after experiencing unimaginable trauma.

“Through letters, reunions, and travels back to Europe, Mira Kimmelman tells her story, as well as the stories of those no longer able to speak for themselves,” Elizabeth wrote. “She also highlights the importance of remembering the atrocities of the Holocaust, as well as the restoration that must follow.”

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17 Essential Lessons for Teaching the Holocaust

“For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.” —Elie Wiesel

Photograph of children in a concentration camp behind a barbed-wire fence

The Museum’s leading educators and historians have used their renowned collection of primary sources to develop a repository of free instructional resources that support accurate, meaningful and relevant examination of the Holocaust. Start planning your unit here with their Getting Started Guide for Teachers .

Often the most important topics we teach are some of the most challenging and difficult to discuss. Because of this, teaching the Holocaust to students of any grade level is a complex task. It is also a vitally important one.

Above all, we want to make sure we provide students with the most accurate and relevant information. But we also must acknowledge the age level of the students we teach. It is important to open students’ eyes to the reality of what was lost while maintaining respect for the lived experiences of so many individuals. Therefore, it’s crucial that we model this respect for our students. Finally, we want to show our students how the events of the Holocaust are still so relevant today.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is dedicated to supporting educators who undertake this important work. The Museum’s leading educators and historians have used their renowned collection of primary sources to create historically accurate, relevant resources that support teachers as they encourage students to think critically about the past and their role in the world today. If you are going to be teaching about the Holocaust, these resources will ensure you feel prepared and confident in doing so.

1. Getting Started

These ready-to-use resources have been grouped together to help teachers in several ways. First, they will help teachers just beginning to plan a unit on the Holocaust. Additionally, they will help teachers who have a limited amount of time to teach this important subject.

Guidelines for Teaching about the Holocaust – Teaching the Holocaust requires a high level of sensitivity and keen awareness of the complexity of the subject matter. This resource can provide helpful framing.
Introduction to the Holocaust – This is a comprehensive one-day lesson plan for teachers who want to introduce their students to the topic but do not have time in their schedules for an entire unit.
Overview of the Holocaust – For teachers with a small window for a dedicated unit, this link provides lesson plans for both a two-day and four-day unit.

2. Foundational Lessons

These lesson plans introduce key concepts and historical content to students. The lessons utilize primary source materials from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s collections.

Image of Black teacher's hands holding a tablet with Holocaust information on it

Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The Path to Nazi Genocide Documentary – This 38-minute film provides an overview of how the Nazis came to power in Germany and perpetrated the Holocaust. It does contain difficult imagery and subject matter, so you’ll want to preview it first to make sure it is appropriate for your grade level. The accompanying lesson plan also includes a follow-along worksheet that will help with discussion and reflection after watching.
Timeline Activity – Students create a multi-layered wall timeline that encourages critical thinking about the relationship between Nazi policy, World War II, historical events, and individual experiences during the Holocaust. Critical thinking questions are included to support post-activity discussions.
Teaching Materials by Topic – A multi-faceted resource for educators with an already existing unit who are looking to include more authentic, primary sources. Topics include Americans’ response to the Holocaust, how propaganda was utilized by the Nazis during the Holocaust, and more.

3. Tea ching Books and Literature: Anne Frank, Elie Wiesel, and Holocaust-era Diaries

Many teachers use novels or memoirs as a window into this topic for students. These resources support lesson plans exploring Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night , Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl , and others.

Diarist Anne Frank, 1942. Public domain

Exploring Night as Literature: Bearing Witness to History – This lesson provides a fuller historical context for the events described in Wiesel’s writing. Additionally, it asks students to examine the purpose of a memoir and the concept of bearing witness. Finally, unique resources allow students to learn about the later life and legacy of Elie Wiesel.
Exploring Anne Frank’s Diary – In this lesson, students examine Anne Frank’s diary as both a historical and a deliberately-created literary text. Doing so will build understanding about how the Holocaust affected the lives of the Frank family.
Exploring Holocaust-era Diaries – Suitable for older students who have already read Diary of a Young Girl or as a companion to a unit studying Anne Frank, this lesson looks at other diaries written during the same time period. The primary source material includes actual photos of the diaries as well as PDF versions for easier reading.

4. Examining Antisemitism and Racism

These resources explore the history of antisemitism, the dangers it poses today, and the history behind Nazi symbols and terms.

Black and white photograph of a woman sitting on a bench with the words

Credit: A woman who is concealing her face sits on a park bench marked “Only for Jews.” Austria, ca. March 1938

History of Antisemitism and the Holocaust – Students examine the role of antisemitism in the Holocaust to better understand the relationship between hate speech and violence. Learning about the origins of hatred and prejudice encourages students to think critically about antisemitism today.
Understanding Nazi Symbols – This lesson provides a model for teachers to use when examining the origins of symbols from Nazi Germany as well as how those symbols are used today.
Nazi Racism – These resources provide an overview for understanding racism in general and Nazi racial antisemitism in particular.

5. Holocaust Videos for Classroom Use

These videos and accompanying lesson plans have been produced by Museum historians and educators for use in middle and high school classrooms to support accurate and effective teaching about the Holocaust.

European Antisemitism from its Origins to the Holocaust – This 13-minute film introduces the history of antisemitism from its origins through the mid-20 th century. It also addresses questions about why Jews have been targeted throughout history and how antisemitism offered fertile ground to the Nazis.
One Survivor Remembers – Produced by HBO, this film documents Gerda Weissmann’s experiences as a 14-yr old during the Holocaust.
Behind Every Name – Based on letters and diaries, these animated short videos document five unique, firsthand accounts of the Holocaust.

6. Americans and the Holocaust

These materials examine the motives, pressures, and fears that shaped Americans’ responses to Nazism, war, and genocide. They also provide insight into how much information was available to the American public and the U.S. government about what was happening during this time.

Photograph of Jewish refugee children wave at the Statue of Liberty as the SS President Harding Steams into New York harbor in 1939.

Credit: Jewish refugee children wave at the Statue of Liberty as the SS President Harding Steams into New York harbor in 1939. USHMM, courtesy of Anita Willens

History Unfolded: U.S. Newspapers and the Holocaust – This interactive lesson guides students through discovering what information about the Holocaust was available in their own community newspapers using online or in-person research.
Exploring the online exhibition – Students often want to know what Americans knew and what they did during the lead up to the war and during the Holocaust. This online exhibition guides them through this timeframe and poses questions for them to think critically about and discuss as a class.
Challenges of Escape – While many students may have background knowledge about the Holocaust in Europe, this lesson will focus on the German Jews who tried to emigrate from Nazi Germany and the complex factors that affected their efforts to come to the United States.

7. Survivor Testimony

Photograph of Holocaust survivor and Museum volunteer Irene Weiss as a girl, circa 1930-1941

Credit: Holocaust survivor and Museum volunteer Irene Weiss as a girl, circa 1930-1941 (courtesy of Irene Fogel Weiss), and today

This lesson asks students to examine testimonies of Holocaust survivors via a variety of mediums (videos, diaries, transcripts, and audio). Included activities explore the purpose of oral histories, how testimonies personalize the history and vary from other primary sources, and how we should critically evaluate them as historical sources.

8. Interactive Lessons compatible with Learning Management Systems

The interactive online lessons are compatible with learning management systems or web browsers for students to complete individually or as a class. Perfect for in-person or at-home learning.

Pre-World War II Jewish Life – In order to better understand what Jewish cultural and communal life was like in Europe before World War II, students will explore the Museum’s digital archive collections, choose photographs of pre-war Jewish life in Europe, and analyze them and the town(s) where the photos were taken.
Rescue and Survival in Hiding – Using short videos about artifacts in the Museum’s collection, students will learn about the experiences of children and families who survived in hiding during the Holocaust.
Resistance During the Holocaust – This activity introduces the various forms of resistance during the Holocaust and explores examples from 1933-45.

9. Free, Virtual Professional Learning Conference

Designed to support accurate, meaningful teaching about the Holocaust, the Belfer National Conference for Educators is the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s flagship event for secondary school educators and invites participants to engage with current historical research and instructional best practices.

Photograph of a visitor looks at photos of daily life before the Holocaust in the Museum's main exhibition.

Credit: A visitor looks at photos of daily life before the Holocaust in the Museum’s main exhibition. The Yaffa Eliach Shtetl Collection, US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Historical Connections – This video covers how teachers can help their students make appropriate connections between the past and present.
Classroom-ready Lessons – This video walks teachers through key resources, a bibliography, lessons for distance learning, foundational lessons, one-day, and multi-day overviews/introductions to the Holocaust.
Timeline Lesson : Discussion of a lesson that helps students contextualize what was going on historically through studying laws, events, and individual stories.

10. Free Resources by Request

The Museum offers educators several resources for their lessons. Teachers can order hard copies of these resources or download them. Some of the materials available include:

Path to Nazi Genocide DVD
Days of Remembrance DVD
Timeline Activity
Poster Sets

This collection of commonly asked questions was developed with educators in mind. It will help you address student questions about historical content.

12. Holocaust Encyclopedia

Screenshot of the Holocaust Encyclopedia page from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The Museum’s Holocaust Encyclopedia provides hundreds of articles about how and why the Holocaust happened. It includes access to digitized collections, critical thinking and discussion questions, lesson plans, oral histories, animated maps, artifact and document images, historical film clips, ID cards, photographs, and audio clips. Additionally, there are 950 articles in English and hundreds of other articles offered in 13 languages, including Spanish, Arabic, Farsi, and Russian.

13. Teaching Materials Using Primary Sources and the Museum’s Collections

The Museum’s Collections document the fate of Holocaust victims, survivors, rescuers, liberators, and others through artifacts, documents, photos, films, books, personal stories, and more. You will also find collections curated by theme and type .

14. Propaganda

These lesson plans explore how propaganda and hate speech were used by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Materials encourage critical analysis of messages and the effects propaganda on people and society both then and now.

Two examples of German propaganda during World War II

Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Gift of Helmut Eschwege/ Hohlwein, Wikipedia

Exploring Nazi Propaganda – This lesson provides opportunities for students to interact interacting with the online exhibition State of Deception to learn about the ways propaganda was used by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
Critically Analyzing Propaganda – Continuing with analysis of how the Nazis used propaganda during the Holocaust, this lesson furthers critical thinking about how timeless techniques of propaganda are still used today in different contexts.
Analyzing Memes – Students examine modern memes. Then, they will learn how to unpack the sources and meaning behind the social media they experience every day.

15. Bibliography/Videography

This bibliography provides an extensive list of resources appropriate for the secondary school level and includes diaries, memoirs, secondary sources, literature, graphic novels, and films. In addition, grade and Lexile levels are included whenever possible.

16. Materials in Spanish

The Museum provides foundational materials in Spanish such as:

Introduction to the Holocaust One-Day Lesson
The Path to Nazi Genocide

17. Ask an Educator

Photograph of a white, female teacher teaching a lesson on the Holocaust

Teaching the Holocaust can be daunting. Because of this, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is dedicated to providing educators with resources, guidance, and support. To support educators, the Museum answers individual questions you might have about resources and instructional strategies.

17 Essential Lessons for Teaching the Holocaust

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50 Refreshing and Relatable Books To Teach in Middle School

What would you add to the list? Continue Reading

73 Essay Hook Examples

essay hook examples and definition, explained below

An essay hook is the first one or two sentences of your essay that are used to grab the reader’s attention and draw them into your discussion.

It is called a hook because it “grabs” the reader and doesn’t let them go! It should have something in there that makes the reader feel curious and intrigued, compelling them to continue reading.

Techniques for Good Essay Hooks

Here are a few techniques that you can use to write a good essay hook:

Use a Quotation : Sometimes, a relevant quotation from a well-known author or expert can help establish the context or theme of your essay. Next time you’re conducting research for an essay, keep an eye out for a really compelling quote that you could use as your hook for that essay.
Start with a Statement that is Surprising or Unusual: A surprising or unusually statement will draw a reader in, making them want to know more about that topic. It’s good if the statement contradicts common knowledge or reveals an insight about your topic that isn’t immediately obvious. These can be particularly good for argumentative essays where you’re putting forward a controversial or compelling argument as your thesis statement .
Tell a Brief Anecdote : A short, interesting story related to your topic can personaize the story, making it more than just a dry essay, and turning it into a compelling narrative that’s worth reading.
Use Statistics or Facts: Interesting, surprising, or shocking facts or statistics work similarly to surprising statements: they make us want to know more about a topic. Statistics and facts in your introductions are particularly useful for analytical, expository , and argumentative essays.
Start with a Question: Questions that make the reader think deeply about an issue, or pose a question that the reader themselves has considered, can be really effecitve. But remember, questions tend to be better for informal and personal essays, and are generally not allowed in formal argumentative essays. If you’re not sure if you’re allowed to use questions in your essays, check with your teacher first.

Below, I’ll present some examples of hooks that you could use as inspiration when writing your own essay hook.

Essay Hook Examples

These examples might help stimulate your thinking. However, keep in mind that your essay hook needs to be unique to your essay, so use these as inspiration but write your own essay hook that’s perfect for your own essay.

1. For an Essay About Yourself

An essay about yourself can be personal, use “I” statements, and include memories or thoughts that are deeply personal to you.

Question: “Have you ever met someone who could turn even the most mundane events into a thrilling adventure? Let me introduce myself.”
Anecdote: “The smell of freshly baked cookies always takes me back to the day when I accidentally started a baking business at the age of nine.”
Intriguing Statement: “I’ve always believed that you haven’t truly lived until you’ve read a book upside down, danced in the rain, or taught a parrot to say ‘I love pizza.'”
Quotation: “As Mark Twain once said, ‘The secret of getting ahead is getting started.’ That’s a philosophy I’ve embraced in every aspect of my life.”
Humorous Statement: “I’m a self-proclaimed ‘professional chocolate tester’ – a title that’s not only delicious but also requires extreme dedication.”
Start with your Mission Statement : “My life motto is simple but powerful: be the person who decided to go for it.
Fact or Statistic: “According to a study, people who speak more than one language tend to be better at multitasking . As a polyglot, I certainly live up to that statistic.”
Comparison or Metaphor: “If my life were a book, it would be a blend of an adventurous novel, a suspense thriller, and a pinch of romantic comedy.”
Personal Revelation: “Ever since I was a child, I’ve had an uncanny ability to communicate with animals. It’s an unusual skill, but one that has shaped my life in many ways.”
Narrative: “The day everything changed for me was an ordinary Tuesday. Little did I know, a single conversation would lead me to discover my true passion.”

2. For a Reflective Essay

A reflective essay often explores personal experiences, feelings, and thoughts. So, your hooks for reflective essays can usually be more personal, intriguing, and engaging than other types of essays. Here are some examples for inspiration:

Question: “Have you ever felt as though a single moment could change your entire life? This essay is going to explore that moment for me.”
Anecdote: “I was standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon, looking at the vast emptiness, and for the first time, I truly understood the word ‘perspective’.”
Bold Statement: “There is a part of me that is still trapped in that room, on that rainy afternoon, holding the letter that would change everything.”
Personal Revelation: “The first time I truly felt a sense of belonging wasn’t in a crowded room full of friends, but in the quiet solitude of a forest.”
Intriguing Statement: “In my life, silence has been a teacher more profound than any words could ever be.”
Quotation: “Einstein once said, ‘The only source of knowledge is experience.’ Now, looking back, I realize how profound that statement truly is.”
Comparison or Metaphor: “If my life is a tapestry, then that summer was the vibrant thread that changed the entire pattern.”
Narrative: “As the train pulled out of the station, I realized I wasn’t just leaving my hometown, I was leaving my old self behind.”
Philosophical Statement: “In the theater of life, we are both the actor and the audience, playing our part and watching ourselves simultaneously.”
Emotive Statement: “There is a sort of sweet sorrow in remembering, a joy tinged with a hint of sadness, like the last notes of a beautiful song.”

For an Argumentative Essay

Essay hooks for argumentative essays are often the hardest. This type of essay tends to require the most formal type of academic writing, meaning your hook shouldn’t use first person, and should be more based on fact and objectivity, often at the expense of creativity. Here are some examples.

Quotation: “Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.’ If Jefferson were alive today, he would likely feel that this meed for a well-informed citizenry is falling well short of where he would aspire.”
Provocative Statement: “Despite what romantic films may portray, love at first sight is merely a myth perpetuated by society. This essay will prosecute the argument that love at first sight is a myth.”
Statistical Fact: “According to the World Health Organization, depression is the leading psychological disability worldwide. Yet, mental health is still stigmatized and often overlooked. This essay will argue that depression should be seen as a health issue, and stigmatization of depression causes serious harm to society.”
Comparison: “Much like an unchecked infection, climate change, if left ignored, can spread far beyond what it is today, causing long-term economic and social problems that may even threaten the longevity of humanity itself.”
Contradiction : “While we live in an era of unprecedented technological advancements, millions around the world are still denied basic internet access.”
Bold Declaration: “Animal testing is not only ethically unacceptable, but it also undermines the progress of medical research.”
Challenging Belief: “Despite popular belief, the automation of jobs is not a threat but an opportunity for society to evolve.”
Quotation: “George Orwell wrote in ‘1984’, ‘Big Brother is Watching You.’ In our modern society, with the advancement of technology, this is becoming more of a reality than fiction.”
Intriguing Statement: “Despite countless diet fads and fitness trends, obesity rates continue to rise. This argumentative essay will argue that this is because medical practitioners’ approaches to health and weight loss are fundamentally flawed.”
Statistical Fact: “Research reveals that over 90% of the world’s plastic waste is not recycled. This alarming figure calls for a drastic change in social attitudes towards consumption and waste management.”
Challenging Assumption: “Society often assumes that progress and growth are intrinsically good, but this is not always the case in the realm of economic development.”
Contradiction: “Western society upholds the value of freedom, yet every day, members of society cede personal liberties in the name of convenience and security.”
Analogy: “Like an overplayed song, when a news story is repeated too often, it loses its impact. In the era of digital media, society is becoming desensitized to critical issues.”
Relevant Anecdote: “In a village in India, the arrival of a single computer transformed the lives of the residents. This small anecdote underscores the importance of digital inclusion in today’s world.”
Call to Rethink: “In a world where success is often equated with financial wealth, it is time for society to reconsidered what truly constitutes a successful life.”

For a Compare and Contrast Essay

A compare and contrast essay examines two issues, looking at both the similarities and differences between them. A good hook for a compare and contrast essay will immediately signal to the reader the subjects that are being compared and why they’re being compared. Here are sine ideas for hooks for a compare and contrast essay:

Quotation: “As Charles Dickens wrote in his novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’. This could equally apply to the contrasting dynamics of urban and rural living.”
Provocative Statement: “Despite popular belief, cats and dogs have more in common than society tends to think.”
Comparison: “Comparing being an only child to growing up with siblings is like contrasting a solo performance with an orchestral symphony.”
Contradiction: “While many view classic literature and contemporary fiction as worlds apart, they are more akin to two sides of the same coin.”
Bold Declaration: “Android and iPhone may compete in the same market, but their philosophies could not be more different.”
Statistical Fact: “Statistics show that children who grow up reading books tend to perform better academically than those who do not. But, the jury is out on how reading traditional books compares to reading e-books on screens.”
Quotation: “As Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote, ‘Sooner or later, we all sit down to a banquet of consequences.’ This statement can be used to frame a comparison between short-term and long-term thinking.”
Provocative Statement: “Democracy and dictatorship are often seen as polar opposites, but are they are not as different as they seem.”
Comparison: “Climate change and plastic pollution are two major environmental issues, yet they demand different approaches and solutions.”
Contradiction: “While traditional classrooms and online learning are seen as separate modes of education, they can often blend into a cohesive learning experience.”
Bold Declaration: “Though both based on merit, the structures of capitalism and socialism lead to vastly different societal outcomes.”
Imagery: “The painting styles of Van Gogh and Monet can be contrasted as a stormy sea versus a tranquil pond.”
Historical Reference: “The philosophies of the Cold War-era – capitalism and communism – provide a lens to contrast economic systems.”
Literary Comparison: “The dystopian societies portrayed in George Orwell’s ‘1984’ and Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ serve as contrasting visions of the future.”
Philosophical Question: “Individualism and collectivism shape societies in distinct ways, but neither one can truly exist without the other.”

See Here for my Guide on Writing a Compare and Contrast Essay

For a Psychology Essay

Writing an engaging hook for a psychology essay involves sparking the reader’s interest in the human mind, behavior, or the specific psychology topic you’re discussing. Here are some stimulating hooks for a psychology essay:

Rhetorical Question: “How much control do we truly have over our own actions?”
Quotation: “Sigmund Freud once said, ‘Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.’ This essay will explore whether this is universally true.”
Provocative Statement: “Contrary to popular belief, ‘venting out’ anger might actually be fueling the fire of fury.”
Comparison: “Just as an iceberg reveals only a fraction of its bulk above water, conscious minds may only be a small piece of who humans truly are.”
Contradiction: “While it may seem counterintuitive, studies show that individuals who are more intelligent are also more likely to suffer from mental health issues.”
Bold Declaration: “Despite advances in technology, understanding the human brain remains one of the final frontiers in science.”
Statistical Fact: “According to a study by the American Psychological Association, nearly one in five adults in the U.S. lives with a mental illness. Yet, mental health continues to be a topic shrouded in stigma.”

For a Sociology Essay

Writing an engaging hook for a sociology essay involves sparking the reader’s interest in social behaviors, cultural phenomena, or the specific sociology topic you’re discussing. Here are ideas for hooks for a sociology essay:

Quotation: “As Karl Marx once noted, ‘Social progress can be measured exactly by the social position of the fair sex.’ Sadly, society has not made much progress in gender equality.”
Provocative Statement: “Social media, initially created to connect people, is ironically leading society into an era of unprecedented isolation.”
Comparison: “Comparing society to a theater, where each individual plays a role, it is possible to start to see patterns and scripts embedded in daily interactions.”
Contradiction: “While people often believe that technology is bringing society closer together, evidence suggests that it’s actually driving a wedge between people, creating ‘digital divides’.”
Bold Declaration: “Human societies are constructed on deeply ingrained systems of inequality, often invisible to those benefiting from them.”
Statistical Fact: “A recent study found that women still earn only 81 cents for every dollar earned by men. This stark wage gap raises questions about equality in the workforce.”

For a College Application Essay

A college essay is a personal statement where you can showcase who you are beyond your grades and resume. It’s your chance to tell your unique story. Here are ten potential hooks for a college essay:

Anecdote: “At the age of seven, with a wooden spoon as my baton, I confidently conducted an orchestra of pots and pans in my grandmother’s kitchen.”
Provocative Statement: “I believe that life is like a game of chess. The king might be the most important piece, but it’s the pawns that can change the entire course of the game.”
Personal Revelation: “It wasn’t until I was lost in a foreign city, armed with nothing but a map in a language I didn’t understand, that I truly discovered my love for adventure.”
Intriguing Question: “Have you ever wondered how it feels to be part of two completely different cultures, yet wholly belong to neither?”
Bold Declaration: “Breaking a bone can be a painful experience. Breaking stereotypes, however, is an entirely different kind of challenge.”
Unusual Fact: “I can recite the periodic table backwards while juggling three tennis balls. It’s a strange talent, but it’s a perfect metaphor for how I tackle challenges.”
Quotation: “As Albert Einstein once said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.’ This quote has defined my approach to learning.”
Narrative: “It was a cold winter’s day when I first discovered the magic of turning a blank page into a world full of characters, stories, and ideas.”
Metaphor: “Like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, my high school years have been a period of profound metamorphosis.”
Humorous Statement: “Being the youngest of five siblings, I quickly learned that the best way to be heard was to become the family’s unofficial lawyer.”

Conclusion: The Qualities of a Good Essay Hook

As I wrap up this article, I want to share a few last tips on qualities that a good essay hook should have. Keep these tips in mind when writing your essay hook and using the above essay hook examples:

First, relevance . A good hook should be directly relevant to the topic or theme of your essay. The hook should provide a preview of what’s to come without giving too much away.

Second, Intrigue. A great hook should make the reader want to continue reading. It should create a question in the reader’s mind or present a fascinating idea that they want to know more about.

Third, uniqueness. An effective hook should be original and unique. It should stand out from the many other essays that the reader might be going through.

Fourth, clarity. Even though a hook should be captivating and original, it should also be clear and easy to understand. Avoid complex sentences and jargon that might confuse the reader.

Fifth, genre conventions. Too often, my students try to be so creative in their essay hooks that they forget genre conventions . The more formal an essay, the harder it is to write the hook. My general approach is to focus on statistics and facts, and avoid rhetorical questions , with more formal essay hooks.

Keep in mind that you should run your essay hook by your teacher by showing them your first draft before you submit your essay for grading. This will help you to make sure it follows genre conventions and is well-written.

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

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The Oscar Contender That Won’t Let Us Look Away

A number of bathers in swimwear assembled in a field by a stream.

By David Klion

Mr. Klion is a journalist and cultural critic.

Any filmmaker trying to draw meaning from the Holocaust onscreen faces potential pitfalls. If you showcase individual human perseverance, as in Agnieszka Holland’s 1990 film “Europa Europa,” you risk trivialization; if you attempt to dramatize the inside of a concentration camp, as in Roberto Benigni’s 1997 film “Life Is Beautiful,” you risk exploitation; if you’re simply interested in preserving the testimony of survivors, you risk redundancy with what Claude Lanzmann accomplished in the 1985 film “Shoah.”

Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film “Schindler’s List” is a masterpiece that consciously navigates these risks, but it, too, has faced criticism for sentimentality and for centering the figure of a righteous gentile.

Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” a dark horse candidate for best picture at the Academy Awards on Sunday, avoids all of these traps and finds something new and profoundly unsettling to say about the Holocaust. Mr. Spielberg recently called it “the best Holocaust movie I’ve witnessed since my own.” The film also accomplishes something more relevant to the present, forcing viewers to confront difficult questions about our own proximity to atrocity, and succeeding as a bracing reminder of how art can alert and sensitize us to the historical moment we inhabit.

“Zone” is ostensibly about the genocide of European Jewry, but its focus is not on the Jewish victims, who remain almost entirely offscreen. Rather, Mr. Glazer exposes the perpetrators to the scrutiny of the audience’s gaze. “Zone” depicts the life of Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz, and his family at their handsome estate just outside the walls of the death camp.

We don’t see prisoners gunned down or stripped naked and marched to the gas chambers. What we do see — and thanks to a chilling and ingenious sound design, hear — are plumes of smoke rising above the incinerators, glimpsed through the window of a bedroom, and the distant rattle of gunfire on the other side of the wall as we tour the pristine garden that Rudolf’s wife, Hedwig, enjoys showing off to guests.

In one of the most disturbing scenes, we watch as a stream of dark ash overtakes the neighboring brook in which Rudolf and his children have gone for a dip. The father is horrified — not at the slaughter implied by this pollution, but at the possibility of his family’s contamination — and a frantic cleansing ensues.

While the film does not ask that we empathize with the Hösses, the conventions of storytelling dictate that we can’t help but identify with them. Some critics have called this approach hollow or even kitschy , an over-aestheticized art house stunt that tells us nothing new about Auschwitz. “The Zone of Interest” has made many of its more sympathetic critics uncomfortable, and that’s by design. “For me, this is not a film about the past,” Mr. Glazer told The Guardian. “It’s trying to be about now, and about us and our similarity to the perpetrators, not our similarity to the victims.”

By keeping the violence of the camp just barely out of frame, Mr. Glazer renders it an omnipresent backdrop to everyday life. In compelling us to spend time with the Hösses, the film demands that we reflect not only on the Holocaust but also on our own degrees of complicity in the horrors that we know are being carried out on the other sides of figurative and literal walls today.

Höss is the overseer of Auschwitz and enters the camp every day, but his wife and children don’t see what’s on the other side of the wall. Yet much of the film’s impact comes in dissecting how they are broadly aware of what goes on and are directly implicated, while still able to carry on their routine lives mostly unperturbed. Watching “The Zone of Interest” as U.S.-made bombs rained down on civilian neighborhoods in Gaza, I couldn’t help but dwell on the banal acceptance of these mass civilian casualties that I’ve witnessed closer to home.

I’m not alone in drawing that connection. One of the film’s producers, James Wilson, in his BAFTA acceptance speech last month, spoke of “the walls we construct in our lives which we choose not to look behind” and of “innocent people being killed in Gaza or Yemen.” While accepting a technical achievement award for the film’s mesmerizing soundtrack at the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards, Mica Levi took the opportunity to call for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Mx. Levi — who, like Mr. Glazer and Mr. Wilson, is Jewish — is one of the few entertainment industry figures this awards season to have taken a public stand on Israel’s military siege against the Palestinians. For Jews like myself, who publicly oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza, one of the hardest realities to confront is the fact that plenty of people in our communities are aware that the Israeli offensive is killing tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of whom are children. But in the wake of the gruesome Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israelis that touched off the war, many people we are close to are not just incurious about Israel’s assault on Gaza but are willing to justify it without apology.

This is the thoroughly modern unease that “Zone of Interest” taps into. The advent of social media means that many of us are confronted with human suffering and injustice as an ambient fact of daily life, and not only in Israel and Gaza, but around the world. By necessity we can develop an instinct to minimize, dismiss or, in some cases, even defend human suffering — which is the very instinct that “Zone of Interest” intends to expose. It turns the audience’s gaze on the perpetrators, but it also implicitly asks us to examine our own roles.

The closest artistic precedent to the approach of “The Zone of Interest” is not a Holocaust film at all, but rather Joshua Oppenheimer’s 2012 documentary “The Act of Killing.” In examining the U.S.-backed Indonesian mass killings of the mid-1960s, Mr. Oppenheimer asks living perpetrators of the massacres to recount and dramatically re-enact their crimes. The perpetrators initially take up this task with a comic relish that comes across as profoundly inappropriate and discomfiting. “The Act of Killing” ends with one of its subjects retching over what he has spent decades being outwardly proud of. His discomfort doesn’t begin to address the scale of the damage he did, but it’s a visceral expression of regret.

The sequence is deliberately echoed in Mr. Glazer’s film. “Zone” ends with Höss dry-heaving after a night of partying with other Nazi officials as he momentarily seems to contemplate a future — our own present — in which all he did at Auschwitz is reduced to a sterile museum exhibit in a free Poland. No conscious part of Höss is in doubt about the correctness of his project, but on some basic level his body revolts against its own evil.

“The Zone of Interest” offers no moral redemption for the Hösses. Nor does it offer audiences the satisfaction of seeing Höss captured by the Allied powers and executed. There are no Jewish survivors to celebrate onscreen, nothing to distract us from the reality that the majority of Europe’s Jews were successfully exterminated.

Having closely observed a living instrument of genocide for the duration of the film, we are extended no solace and we exit the theater feeling a little unclean, as though we participated ourselves. Perhaps in another context we might have. Perhaps in another context we are.

David Klion is a journalist and cultural critic at work on a book about the legacy of neoconservatism.

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Organized by theme, these discussion questions examine how and why the Holocaust happened. They are designed to help teachers, students, and all citizens create discussion and encourage reflection about the Holocaust.

Browse all Discussion Questions

What made it possible.

Discussion Question How and why did ordinary people across Europe contribute to the persecution of their Jewish neighbors?

Discussion Question How did German professionals and civil leaders contribute to the persecution of Jews and other groups?

Discussion Question What conditions, ideologies, and ideas made the Holocaust possible?

Discussion Question How did the Nazis and their collaborators implement the Holocaust?

Discussion Question What does war make possible?

Discussion Question Which organizations and individuals aided and protected Jews from persecution between 1933 and 1945?

Discussion Question How did leaders, diplomats, and citizens around the world respond to the events of the Holocaust?

Discussion Question How did the United States government and American people respond to Nazism?

After the war.

Discussion Question What have we learned about the risk factors and warning signs of genocide?

Discussion Question How did postwar trials shape approaches to international justice?

Discussion Question How did the shared foundational element of eugenics contribute to the growth of racism in Europe and the United States?

Discussion Question What were some similarities between racism in Nazi Germany and in the United States, 1920s-1940s?

Discussion Question How did different goals and political systems shape racism in Nazi Germany and the United States?

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HoCo Holocaust Remembrance Committee Hosts Essay, Poem, Art Contest

H OWARD COUNTY, MD — Students are invited to participate in the Howard County Holocaust Remembrance Committee's annual essay, poem and art contest.

Mark Steinhorn serves on the Howard County Holocaust Remembrance Committee in honor of his mother, Harriet Steinhorn-Roth, who was liberated from Bergen-Belsen in April of 1945, the concentration camp at which Anne Frank died.

"As part of this years' Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) Commemoration program, we are sponsoring an essay, poem and art contest open to all Howard County Students in grades 7th -12th," Steinhorn said.

Deadlines to submit entries falls on March 15 and specific contest details can be found here . There will be four cash awards for the winners, which will be announced at the Commemoration on May 5 from 7 to 8:15 p.m. both in person at the Oakland Mills Meeting House and virtually.

The article HoCo Holocaust Remembrance Committee Hosts Essay, Poem, Art Contest appeared first on Columbia Patch .

There will be four cash awards for the winners in the annual essay, poem and art contest, which will be announced at the Commemoration on May 5 from 7 to 8:15 p.m. both in person at the Oakland Mills Meeting House and virtually.

Support 110 years of independent journalism.

Who dares to “hijack” the Holocaust?

Jonathan Glazer’s abject Oscars speech for The Zone of Interest served to downplay the inhumanity his film so powerfully depicts.

By Howard Jacobson

Jonathan Glazer’s profoundly subtle and disturbing film, The Zone of Interest , no sooner won an Oscar for Best International Feature than its director delivered an apology for his Jewishness so grovelling in its emotional simplicity it would have made the angels – of any religion – weep.

I wanted The Zone of Interest to win an Oscar. Quite frankly I would have been delighted had it won them all. Based freely on Martin Amis ’s dark-delving philosophical novel, it is a marvellously subtle film that addresses the greatest of moral conundrums – how it was that an educated and refined society could live cheek by jowl with barbarism. To say that the film didn’t flinch from the most vexed contradictions in human nature is not the half of it. To a soundtrack that could have been the music of the 20th century imploding, it minutely examined the thing we call normality and left it in shreds.

Maybe there is no explanation for the coexistence of the most jarring behavioural contrarieties, the mechanism that makes it possible to love one’s family and care not a jot about the destruction of other people’s. Unless it was something as demeaning as the desire to please, there is no explaining how such a subtle and unusual artist as Jonathan Glazer could, with the richly deserved Oscar in his hand, deliver such brutally sensational and commonplace thoughts.

“Right now, we stand here,” he said, “as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people.”

There is disagreement about the meaning of this clumsy formulation. Is Glazer refuting his Jewishness full stop, or refuting his Jewishness being hijacked to justify an occupation? Because I want to give him every benefit of every doubt I will accept the latter explanation. So that’s all right then. He’s holding on to his Jewishness after all. Whew! Except that it’s not all right. What and where is this hijacking of which he wants no part? I have not myself heard any serious, thinking moral Jew adducing the “occupation” to the Holocaust, though I have heard it said by those for whom discrediting Jews is a passion that this is the sort of moral blackmail Jews routinely employ. Jews, it is said, cry anti-Semitism only to silence criticism of Israel, just as they help emergency relief efforts in other countries only to harvest the organs of the dying, just as they selectively murder children because that’s what they’ve been doing for centuries…

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Such are the canards deployed to rob the Jews of any lingering sympathy they might yet enjoy as victims of that inhumanity The Zone of Interest depicts, and so to downplay, as just another gambit in Jewish subterfuge, the Holocaust itself. Hijack ! Consider the import of that word. So despicable are the Jews, they will steal from themselves the most hellish events in their history to justify visiting hell on others.

Why would Jonathan Glazer, of all people – a man who has been immersed to an unusual degree in recent Jewish history – give the slightest weight to this libel?

I don’t say he should have stood before a televised audience of millions and cheered on the Israeli Defence Forces. Indeed, he had no need to invoke his Jewishness at all. But since he chose to do so, could he not have used the opportunity to unite rather than divide, to explain, to speak wisely about a tragedy that is tearing all parties to it apart? Could he not have spoken of the horror felt by every Jew on 7 October, not just on account of the violence done but the approving reactions to it, and the horror felt today by every Jew at the death toll in Gaza , and allow no one to suppose that the heartbreaking scenes there somehow give succour to a fictional Jewish blood-lust justified by the Holocaust?

I don’t accuse Jonathan Glazer of being selective in his compassion. “Whether the victims of October 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza,” he said, “all the victims to dehumanisation – how do we resist?” But resistance to dehumanisation does not necessitate divesting oneself of Jewishness, however one interprets that, whether as the hijacking of it to win a false legitimacy or in seeking any other advantage that being Jewish might confer. For a Jew to concur in this fashionable defamation – that Jews are moral profiteers, and that it is only by shedding such Jewishness that a Jew can feel pity – is doubly despicable.

As a serious, thinking Jewish man, Jonathan Glazer must have read the late Amos Oz on the tragedy of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which both parties could be said to be in the right, and then, when the situation worsened, both parties could be said to be in the wrong. The “occupation” didn’t just happen one day to satisfy Holocaust righteousness. It was a child of history, born of a mutual intransigence that pre-dated the Holocaust, the consequence of mistakes and violent obduracies on both sides. A tragedy does not entail blame, but if Jonathan Glazer must buy into Jewish blame he must buy into Palestinian blame as well. It would have taken real moral courage to pursue that line; right now it takes none to castigate Jews.

In my years teaching English literature I had frequent recourse to DH Lawrence’s dictum, “Never trust the teller, trust the tale.” That Dickens was a bad husband, I was forever telling my students, no more made him a bad novelist than beating her dog made Emily Brontë a bad novelist. We will no more fathom the nexus between art and moral intelligence, than that between a normal family life and savagery.

Jonathan Glazer made an ambitious, important film. I salute the artist. But his abject mea culpa debases him as a man.

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150 Holocaust Essay Topics & Examples
The most popular Holocaust essay topics are: The Holocaust and its causes Nazi human experiments as a part of the Holocaust Jewish ghettos in Poland The establishment of Auschwitz concentration camp The consequences of the Holocaust Below you can find much more ideas. In this article, we've collected Holocaust thesis ideas and questions for essays.
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The Holocaust, one of the darkest periods in human history, is a topic that has been extensively studied and documented. Elie Wiesel's memoir, Night, provides a deeply personal and harrowing account of his experiences as a teenager during the Holocaust. This essay will explore the... Elie Wiesel Holocaust 4 A Report on Holocaust During WW2
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Common Core Writing Prompts and Strategies: Holocaust and Human
Resource Library Book Common Core Writing Prompts and Strategies: Holocaust and Human Behavior This resource provides writing prompts and strategies that align Holocaust and Human Behavior with the expectations of the Common Core State Standards. Last Updated: March 6, 2014 Save Share to Google Classroom Print this Page At a Glance Book Language
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In 2007 the Aegis Trust ran a creative writing competition on the Holocaust for school students, one of the instructions being to "Reflect upon your own feelings and thoughts (and the impact upon...
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In the first four lessons of the unit, students explore questions about identity, stereotyping, and group membership. This assessment step introduces students to a writing prompt that builds on these important themes and connects them to the history students explore later in this unit. The prompt is designed to serve as both a thematic frame ...
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Holocaust Essays: Oskar Schindler: The Man and the Hero The following are essays created by a class studying the Holocaust. If you'd like to send your comments, please contact the instructor, Jan Haswell Oskar Schindler: The Man and the Hero by April N. Aberly
PDF LITERATURE OF THE HOLOCAUST
Voices: The 1946 Holocaust Interviews of David Boder (2010) and the Sounds of Deﬁance:The Holocaust, Multilingualism, and theProblem of English (2005),editor ofApproachestoTeachingWiesel'sNight(2007), and co-editor of Elie Wiesel: Jewish, Moral, and Literary Perspectives (2013). He lectures regularly on Holocaust literature at Yad Vashem's
Holocaust Essays: Examples, Topics, & Outlines
Between 1939 and 1945, approximately six million Jews and five million non-Jews died in the Holocaust as Adolph Hitler sought to create a "perfect nation." All of these deaths were premeditated mass executions. In September 1939, Hitler started World War II with a rapid air and land attack on an unprepared Poland.
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Effective Hook Sentences for Holocaust Essay Introduction. When writing an essay, the introduction is a crucial part that sets the tone for the entire piece. A well-crafted introduction can grab the reader's attention and make them eager to continue reading. One effective technique to accomplish this is by using a hook sentence.
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The forty-seven essays in the book summarize the state of the field at the time of publication and delineate future challenges. Each essay is an excellent starting point for someone interested in exploring a particular topic in depth. Hilberg, Raul. The Destruction of the European Jews. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1985.
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Haley Braden, second-place high school essay winner from Anderson County High School, wrote that she knew little about the Holocaust before entering the contest. Her essay urges her generation to follow in Kimmelman's footsteps, to "keep a positive attitude and mindset through the darkest hours. Because with this hope comes peace and love."
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1. Getting Started. These ready-to-use resources have been grouped together to help teachers in several ways. First, they will help teachers just beginning to plan a unit on the Holocaust. Additionally, they will help teachers who have a limited amount of time to teach this important subject.
Essay about The Holocaust
The Holocaust was the murder and persecution of approximately 6 million Jews and many others by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. The Nazis came to power in Germany in January of 1933. The Nazis thought that the "inferior" Jews were a threat to the "racially superior" German racial community.
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Any good hooks for an essay about The Holocaust
KimNovak. Final answer: To start an essay on the Holocaust, consider hooks that use irony, personal stories, or quotes from survivors to convey the gravity of the genocide and engage the reader. Reflecting on the work of historians and the remembrance of victims and heroes can contribute depth to the introduction. Explanation:
73 Essay Hook Examples (2024)
These examples might help stimulate your thinking. However, keep in mind that your essay hook needs to be unique to your essay, so use these as inspiration but write your own essay hook that's perfect for your own essay. 1. For an Essay About Yourself. An essay about yourself can be personal, use "I" statements, and include memories or ...
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Students will bear witness to the atrocities committed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, as well as extraordinary acts of resistance and efforts to preserve human dignity on the part of victims and survivors. What's Included. This lesson is designed to fit into two 50-min class periods and includes: 7 activities.
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This 38-minute film examines the Nazis' rise and consolidation of power in Germany. Using rare footage, the film explores their ideology, propaganda, and persecution of Jews and other victims. It also outlines the path by which the Nazis and their collaborators led a state to war and to the murder of millions of people.
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The Holocaust (1933-1945) was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million European Jews by the Nazi German regime and its allies and collaborators. 1 The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum defines the years of the Holocaust as 1933-1945.
Opinion
Any filmmaker trying to draw meaning from the Holocaust onscreen faces potential pitfalls. If you showcase individual human perseverance, as in Agnieszka Holland's 1990 film "Europa Europa ...
Discussion Questions
Cite Print More Details Organized by theme, these discussion questions examine how and why the Holocaust happened. They are designed to help teachers, students, and all citizens create discussion and encourage reflection about the Holocaust. Browse all Discussion Questions What made it possible?
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The article HoCo Holocaust Remembrance Committee Hosts Essay, Poem, Art Contest appeared first on Columbia Patch. There will be four cash awards for the winners in the annual essay, ...
Who dares to "hijack" the Holocaust?
It was a child of history, born of a mutual intransigence that pre-dated the Holocaust, the consequence of mistakes and violent obduracies on both sides. A tragedy does not entail blame, but if Jonathan Glazer must buy into Jewish blame he must buy into Palestinian blame as well. It would have taken real moral courage to pursue that line; right ...