Julie Klein spends a lot of time correcting students’ misconceptions about the Holocaust. 

The Fenwick teacher, who is a leading educator on Germany’s genocide of European Jews during World War II, said correcting falsities is important. 

“They think they know a lot,” Klein said of students. “They’ve heard it ‘wasn’t that bad.’ They’ve heard there were not gas chambers. They will ask ‘Did it really happen?’” Klein said. “I would say it is very challenging. It is a different world with the speed of information. There are Holocaust denial websites. It can be overwhelming.” 

Klein was one of 23 educators and Holocaust center staff picked to participate in a Jewish Foundation for the Righteous advanced seminar. The two-day academic program in January focused on strengthening Holocaust education and addressing both historical and contemporary antisemitism.
The program placed an emphasis on the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence in Holocaust education and research. 

“It was an opportunity for educators to learn from each other and from the very best,” Klein said. 

Klein was the only individual from Illinois selected for this year’s seminar in New Jersey. 

“It was an incredible honor to be there,” the Fenwick instructor said. “It was very gratifying to be honored. It was very gratifying that the school recognized the importance of it. I needed Friday off to fly to New Jersey and Fenwick supported me completely.” 

Klein said she talked to educators from other states and was surprised at how little backing some of them get for Holocaust education efforts. 

“I was shocked at my colleagues’ limitations and lack of support in teaching this at their schools. They should value this work,” she said. “Professional development is such an investment in education. Teachers strive to bring the best to students. These opportunities need to be supported by schools and administrations. It is an opportunity for teachers to improve their craft.” 

Learning days 

Klein has been part of Chicago Archdiocesan presentations about Holocaust education given to Chicago Public Schools teachers on professional learning days. 

“I am committed to sharing the information I learn,” said the Fenwick teacher. 

Klein is in her second year at the Oak Park school. She started teaching about the Holocaust when a teacher at New Trier High School. 

Illinois was the first state to require that lessons about the Holocaust be part of every school’s curriculum for every grade. 

Klein has taught about the Holocaust in world history, social studies and psychology classes at Fenwick. 

“Last year, my world history class did a deeper dive into the Holocaust. We went to the Illinois Holocaust Museum,” she noted. “In U.S. history, we look at the United States’ response to the war. In psychology, we look at what behaviors are involved in survivors mentality. In social psychology, we look at the bystander effect.” 

The Fenwick educator said teaching about the atrocities of World War II is vital. 

“Holocaust education needs to be taught,” Klein said. “It is incredibly emotional and traumatic content. How do we teach it? Kids may have heard the history. We are constantly confronted with how to do the teaching well and safely.” 

She has never had parents tell her that they didn’t want their children exposed to the traumatic facts associated with the Holocaust. Klein has, however, gotten the opposite response. 

“Parents have expressed their gratitude out of our class going to the Illinois Holocaust Museum,” Klein said. “Parents have said, ‘Mrs. Klein, you’re not going to believe the conservation I had with my child and the impact being there had on my child.’” 

Klein has assisted the Illinois Holocaust Museum with educational components, including virtual reality tours of the Skokie facility. 

‘Intimidating to teach’ 

Leah Rauch, the museum’s director of education, said the work educators like Klein do is so important. 

“It is a history that can be very intimidating to teach,” Rauch said. “It also can be transformative to students. We want to help teachers and empower teachers to bring this history in very rich and engaging ways to their students.” 

Rauch said tens of thousands of students have come through the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, and museum officials have provided educational resources to schools throughout Illinois and the United States, as well as internationally. 

The Skokie museum offers virtually field trips and sends out teaching trunks, with books and other educational materials, including virtual reality headsets where students follow the story of a Holocaust survivor. 

The museum is closed for renovations, including creation of a new theater, and is running operations through a space at 360 N. State St., Chicago, where virtual reality headsets are available. 

“We have quite a few opportunities Downtown for student to come and teachers to come,” Rauch said. “We have VR headsets for everyone to watch the films. We have our hologram. We have a Holocaust and World War II gallery as well as a special exhibit on Stories of Survival.” 

A museum-created website, voicesofsurvival.com, allows students and other individuals to interact with Holocaust and other genocide survivors. 

“We have a lot ways that we are supporting teachers and helping them bring this history to their classroom,” Rauch said. 

Rauch encouraged teachers to reach out to the museum for help with their instruction on the Holocaust. 

“I think we offer a lot of really kind of cutting-edge technology that can be brought into classrooms or that students can experience at the museum as well,” Rauch said. “We have a lot of exciting and different ways to engage students.” 

For Holocaust Museum educational resources for teachers, go to  https://ift.tt/s4hWIdE. 

kbeese@chronicleillinois.com