January: Holocaust Day, Anniversaries for 2021 and new resources
Tuesday 26 January 2021
Holocaust Remembrance Day
27 January is Holocaust Remembrance Day; the theme for this year is 'Be the light in the darkness'.
'Be the light in the darkness is an affirmation and a call to action for everyone marking HMD. This theme asks everyone to consider different kinds of ‘darkness’, for example, identity-based persecution, misinformation, denial of justice; and different ways of ‘being the light’, for example, resistance, acts of solidarity, rescue and illuminating mistruths.
The utterly unprecedented times through which we are living currently are showing the very best of which humanity is capable but also - in some of the abuse and conspiracy theories being spread on social media - the much darker side of our world.'
We will continue to do our bit for as long as we can, secure in the knowledge that others will continue to light a candle long after us.
Gena Turgel MBE, survivor of the Holocaust
https://www.hmd.org.uk/news/theme-announced-for-hmd-2021-be-the-light-in-the-darkness/
Here is a reminder of some resources that are available to help teachers discuss the signficance of this day with students:
Holocaust Memorial Day - Teaching Resources (BBC Teach)
27 January marks the liberation day of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. In this collection of teaching resources you will find stories of persecution, escape and survival in Nazi occupied Europe.
Anniversaries for 2021
'Anniversaries mark the passage of time, recall our triumphs, and honor our losses'
Site update: new resources
In the last month we have created Paper 1s for PS1 and PS5, have added two more case studies to Paper 2, Topic 08 on Independence Movements and have uploaded more paper and interactive quizzes for Paper 2, Cold War.
Paper 1
Paper 1 Topic 12: Superpower tensions and rivalries - quizzes
2. Cold War Crises: The Korean War
Here are 20 questions on the Korean War:
3. Cold War Crises: Berlin Wall
Here are 20 questions on the Berlin Wall Crisis
History in the News
There are several stories in the news at the moment which have their origins in key historical events and so would be excellent to discuss with students to highlight the relevance of history in today's world. Good examples of these include China's actions over Taiwan and on the border with India - creating tensions reminiscent of those in the 1950s and 1960s:
This article reflects on Roosevelt's first 100 days in order to highlight the fact that Joe Biden should also enact ambitious change during this period:
Students might be interested in this historical precedent to the storming of the Capitol in the US:
And this article is good for TOK linking different subjects to explain these recent events..
Other useful sites/programmes
BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, The Cultural Revolution (BBC)
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Mao's uprising against his own party from 1966-76
Note that this series In Our Time has many programmes on key historical topics - all involving discussions with historians.
The surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr (BBC News)
New documentary highlights extent of the FBI surveillance of the US civil rights leader.