A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust, http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/
Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida, 1997.

Unable to Work, by David Olere. From A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust.

Coinciding with the recent proliferation of the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW), Holocaust scholarship continues to receive increased attention. In today�s educational and cultural environment, the two quite naturally came together with the result being a virtual explosion of Internet sites dedicated to the Holocaust and its many facets. The variety of sites and topics seems endless. Nevertheless, at a time when the quantity of sites far outweighs the quality, the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, together with the University of South Florida, maintains one of the best Holocaust sites on the Web and the top site dedicated to Holocaust education.

A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust (http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/), true to its title, is the best all-inclusive asset on the Web for those teaching this difficult topic�as evident by the many awards it has received, including the 1997 North American Web Conference "Best Educational Web Site, Higher Education Division." The index page allows one to branch to four different "activity sites": Timeline, People, The Arts, Activities, and Resources.
   

http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/sitemap/sitemap.htm

Yitzhok Brauner (1887-1944), Self-Portrait. From A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust.

However, certain areas of the site, the "Resources" area being the main one, limit their scope to secondary education and below. The "Resources" area (http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/resource.htm) contains links to a variety of articles, books, films, documents, and other valuable information, with the first three being readily grouped into different educational levels. Still, the remaining links offer valuable information regardless of educational level and are as useful to students as they are to instructors. The "Documents" (http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/document/document.htm) and "Images" (http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/gallery/gallery.htm) links are of particular value. The former offers a variety of translated primary documents (one being the Wansee Protocol), and the latter contains photos and maps grouped into twenty-seven categories ranging chronologically from the 1922 photographs of Nazi party activities to the birth of Israel. Upon entering each category, the link provides thumbnail sketches of all included photographs, complete with a description.

"Emancipation of European Jewry" map. From A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust.

The many links to other sites represents A Teacher�s Guide�s secondary benefit. For example, entering the "People" link, (http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/people/people.htm), the available choices include: Victims, Perpetrators, Bystanders, Resisters, Rescuers, Liberators, and Survivors. Entering the fist site, and paging down to "People with Physical and Mental Disabilities," this area offers five separate links: one to a definition of euthanasia, three links to different aspects of the Nazi euthanasia programs, and a final link to a primary document (a letter from the chief of the institution for the feeble-minded in Stetten to Reich Minister of Justice Dr. Frank, September 6, 1940).

Besides the earlier mentioned shortcoming of educational limitations, the only other flaw includes the use of "The History Place" links

Violinist plays for children at Westerbork. From A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust.

for some information. I found this site to include many inconsistencies and incorrect information. For example, from the "Timeline" link, selecting "Rise of the Nazi Party (1918-1933)" provides information on Germany�s World War I defeat (http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler). By selecting the link exploring "the consequences of Germany�s defeat," you are spirited to the History Place. Within this link, they identify the top American commander as "General George Pershing," although his name was General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing.

These minor faults notwithstanding, A Teacher's Guide represents the Web�s best all-encompassing site devoted to Holocaust education and resources. Well-designed and easy to navigate, graduate students at South Florida who developed the site for a Development of Technology-Based Instruction course are to be commended.

Rondall R. Rice
United States Air Force Academy

Comments to: [email protected]

Contents: JMMH, Volume 1 Number 1 ~ Fall 1998