Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Video list
Unit 1: Genocide and Who Remembers the Armenians
Global Issues for Students: Genocide
Genocide, the systematic destruction of a group of people, associated most
readily with the Holocaust, tragically remains a major global issue today.
Despite the lessons learned from planned exterminations such as the Armenian
Massacre, the international response was limited in subsequent genocides in
countries like Cambodia and Rwanda. This show defines genocide, explores the
nature and causes of the crime, and shows students how the world community
attempts to monitor global conditions and prevent future atrocities.
Grades: 9 to Adults
Genocide: worse than war
PBS
1:54:17
Watch Daniel Goldhagen's ground breaking documentary focused on the worldwide
phenomenon of genocide, which premiered on PBS on April 14, 2010.
"By the most fundamental measure -- the number of people killed -- the perpetrators of mass
murder since the beginning of the twentieth century have taken the lives of more people than
have died in military conflict. So genocide is worse than war," reiterates Goldhagen. "This is a
little-known fact that should be a central focus of international politics, because once you know
it, the world, international politics, and what we need to do all begin to look substantially
different from how they are typically conceived."
WORSE THAN WAR documents Goldhagen¹s travels, teachings, and interviews in nine
countries around the world, bringing viewers on an unprecedented journey of insight and
analysis. In a film that is highly cinematic and evocative throughout, he speaks with victims,
perpetrators, witnesses, politicians, diplomats, historians, humanitarian aid workers, and
journalists, all with the purpose of explaining and understanding the critical features of
genocide and how to finally stop it.
1915 The Armenian Genocide
60 minutes
Based on the eyewitness accounts of four survivors, this film takes a journey through
their ancestral lands in the final hours of the Armenian Civilization…Their
compelling story of survival and death sets the timeline into the “Anatomy of the
First Genocide”
The Armenian Genocide - The Critically Acclaimed PBS Documentary by Emmy
Award Winner Andrew Goldberg (2006)
60 minutes
PG
The Armenian Genocide is the complete story of the first Genocide of the 20th
century - when over a million Armenians died at the hands of the Ottoman
Turks during World War I. This unprecedented and powerful one-hour
documentary, which aired April 17th, 2006 on PBS, was written, directed and
produced by Emmy Award-winning producer Andrew Goldberg of Two Cats
Productions, in association with Oregon Public Broadcasting. Featuring
interviews with the leading experts in the field and this film features neverbefore-seen historical footage of the events and key players of one of the
greatest untold stories of the 20th century.
Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Video list
Unit II - Holocaust
Nazi Book Burning
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
9:42
On May 10, 1933, German students under the Nazi regime burned tens of thousands of books
nationwide. These book burnings marked the beginning of a period of extensive censorship and
control of culture in Adolf Hitler's escalating reign of terror.
In this short film, a Holocaust survivor, an Iranian author, an American literary critic, and two
Museum historians discuss the Nazi book burnings and why totalitarian regimes often target
culture, particularly literature.
Into The Arms Of Strangers - Stories Of The Kindertransport (2000) PG
120 min
The story of how Jewish children were sent to Great Britain by their parents
during World War II to protect them from Hitler.
Genre: Documentary
German Death Camp Treblinka - Survivor Stories
58:51
The dark heart of the Nazi holocaust, Treblinka was an extermination camp where over
800,000 Polish Jews perished from 1942. Only two men can bear final witness to its terrible
crimes. Samuel Willenberg and Kalman Taigman were slave labourers who escaped in a
dramatic revolt in August 1943. One would seek vengeance in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, while
the other would appear in the sensational trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961. This film documents
their amazing survivor stories and the tragic fate of their families, and offers new insights into a
forgotten death camp.
Hidden in Silence (1996)
90 minutes
Przemysl, Poland, WWII. Germany emerges victorious over the
Russians, and the city comes under Nazi control. The Jewish are
sent to the ghettos. While some stand silent, Catholic teenager
Stefania Podgorska (portrayed by ER's Kellie Martin as Fusia)
chooses the role of a savior and sneaks 13 Jews into her attic. Every
day, she risks detection--and immediate execution--by smuggling
food and water to the silent group living above her. And when two
German nurses are assigned to her living quarters, the chances of
discovery become dangerously high. This is the true story of a
young woman's selfless commitment and unwavering resolve in the
face of war.
Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Video list
American Experience - America and the Holocaust (2005)
PBS
90 minutes
In 1937, Kurt Klein immigrated to the United States from Germany to escape the
growing discrimination against Jews that had become a terrible fact of life
following Hitler’s rise to power. Klein worked hard to establish himself so that
he could obtain safe passage for his parents out of Germany. But, like other
American Jews, he struggled with State Department red tape and indifference as
he sought to rescue his family.
Americans were becoming aware of the stories coming out of Europe about a
campaign to force Jews out of Germany and about the horrors of Kristallnacht in
1938. But American society had political, economic, and social problems of its
own, including serious unemployment brought on by the Depression and long-standing--and
rising--anti-Semitism. Over 100 anti-Semitic organizations blanketed the U.S. with propaganda,
businesses refused to hire Jews, and certain hotels and clubs proudly proclaimed themselves
''Restricted.'' Even the government was not immune from anti-Semitic sentiments.
America and the Holocaust paint’s a troubling picture of the U.S. during a period beset by antiSemitism. It reveals a government that not only delayed action but also suppressed information
and blocked efforts that could have resulted in the rescue of hundreds of thousands of people,
including the family of Kurt Klein.
They looked Away narrated by Mike Wallace
2004
53 minutes
This documentary grapples with the profound questions about Allied
inactions during the Holocaust. Did we “know” the gas chambers were
there? Could we have destroyed them? Why didn’t we? This addresses
significant issues of guilt, responsibility and moral courage. This combines
interviews with heroic camp survivors, scholars and crucially, WWII pilots,
bombardiers and photo interpreters directly involved in Allied missions
over Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
Nuremberg: Tyranny On Trial
1995, A&E Television Networks 46:11
World War II didn't end on the battlefield--it ended in a courtroom. The Nuremberg Trials bore
witness to some of humanity's darkest hours and revealed the full scope of the atrocities of
Nazism, culminating in the execution of many top Nazi leaders.
Unit III – Khmer Rouge of Cambodia
Cambodia Killing Fields by CNN
CNN's Dan Rivers profiles members of the Khmer Rouge, as they face justice before a U.N.backed trial.
Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Video list
Searching for the truth: My True Story - Cambodia Killing Fields
19:30
By Dara Duong, founder of the Cambodian Cultural Museum and Killing Fields Memoerial in
Seattle, WA. The story of his five family members killed when he was 5 years old.
Unit IV – Genocide in Yugoslavia
1999 - a documentary about Kosovo War and ethnic cleansing
10:16
This is a documentary about Kosovo War, ethnic cleansing that followed, and the efforts of the
Canadian government to shelter and assist 7000 of circa one million Albanian refugees expelled
from their land by the Serbian military forces.
The Death Of Yugoslavia Wars Of Independence
BBC 6 parts on Youtube
The Death of Yugoslavia is a BBC documentary series first broadcast in 1995, and is also the
name of a book written by Allan Little and Laura Silber that accompanies the series. It covers
the collapse of the former Yugoslavia. It is notable in its combination of never-before-seen
archive footage interspersed with interviews of most of the main players in the conflict,
including Slobodan Milošević, Radovan Karadžić, Franjo Tuđman and Alija Izetbegović.
The
series was awarded with a BAFTA award in 1996 for Best Factual Series. Because of the series
large amount of interviews with prominent leaders and commanders of the conflict, it has been
frequently used by ICTY in war crimes prosecutions.
Unit V – Genocide in Rwanda
Defying Genocide: Choices that saved lives
USHMM
19 minutes
Whenever genocide has occurred, individuals have risked their own lives
to save others. How can their courage inspire us to defy genocide?
The story of how Simone Weil Lipman was able to save thousands of
Jewish children during the Holocaust is a starting point for an exploration
of what it takes to defy genocide. This film focuses on Damas Gisimba,
director of a small orphanage in Rwanda that was besieged by militias
during the 1994 genocide. Learn how Gisimba, with the help of American
aid worker Carl Wilkens, managed to protect, care for, and save some 400
people.
Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Video list
Rwanda - Do Scars Ever Fade? (2008)
minutes
A&E Home Video
70
This special presents the complex and riveting story of Rwanda and
provides a complete history and in-depth look at the propaganda
campaign that is crucial to understanding how genocide leaders got
ordinary citizens to participate in the killing. And we look at today's
almost impossible situation of how to deal with justice and
reconciliation. In addition to expert commentary, we relate personal
stories that illustrate the larger picture.
Unit VI – Genocide in Darfur and Sudan
Darfur Now (2007)
PG
98 minutes
This acclaimed, inspiring documentary follows six people who are
striving to end the suffering in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur. The six – an
American activist, an international prosecutor, a Sudanese rebel, a
sheikh, a leader of the World Food Program, and Don Cheadle, who
traverses the globe with fellow actor George Clooney to pressure world
leaders – demonstrate the power of one individual to make
extraordinary changes. Be an eyewitness to the tragedy and the
triumphs, the fear and the pride. Meet the refugees, determined to
return to their beloved homeland.
Facing Sudan (Special Edition)
2008
90 minutes
Brian Burns is a seemingly ordinary person. When we meet him, he is sweeping the floors in a
suburban high school. But looks can be deceiving. Brian has a story to tell. It is a story of
suffering. It is a story of death. It is a story of refugees running for cover at the ominous sound
of a plane engine. But it is also the story of strength, courage and hope.
It is the story of Sudan. Told through the eyes of ordinary people, living seemingly ordinary
lives, Facing Sudan is truly about the Sudanese people struggling to survive. It is the story of the
countless thousands who live day to day in refugee camps. It is the story of the world's reaction
to the atrocities and violence in that war-torn African nation.
The film demonstrates that seemingly ordinary individuals can do extraordinary things.
A custodian. A housewife. A pediatrician. A grandmother.