January Blog: Holocaust Memorial Day
Tuesday 7 January 2025
The theme of Holocaust Memorial Day 2025 is For a Better Future
Holocaust Memorial Day, 27th January
Many History DP students will be studying the Holocaust as part of their programme; however, Holocaust Memorial Day provides the opportunity to discuss this key event with all students.
HMD 2025 is a particularly significant year as it marks 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and 30 years since the genocide in Bosnia. The theme is For a Better Future - focusing on bringing people together.
This site from the Holocaust Memorial Day trust in the UK gives ideas on how to explore the significance of this day with students, and activities to explore current divisions in society and how these can be addressed.
The following BBC site further gives teaching resources including assembly ideas for 2025 HMD with the focus on the liberation of Auschwitz:
Holocaust Memorial Day 2025 resources (BBC Teach)
Mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2025 with our collection of resources suitable for use with both primary and secondary school pupils. Each resource is accompanied by teacher notes to aid classroom use.
Other resources available to help teachers discuss the significance of this day with students include the following:
Teaching About the Holocaust - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (www.ushmm.org)
Teaching about the Holocaust can inspire students to think critically about the past and their own roles and responsibilities today.
Holocaust Remembrance Day lesson plans and activities (PBS Newshour Classroom)
The following collection is designed to provide teachers with rich and meaningful resources about the Holocaust
History in the News
Death of Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the US
In our October Blog we featured Jimmy Carter's 100th Birthday and linked to articles reviewing the successes and failures of his foreign policy. As this NPR article explains these still remain 'controversial'. But while he left office with poll approval rating in the low 30s, he is now much more favourably assessed; in recent years his Gallup approval rating among the public has been above 50%.
The following article from CFR give a clear time line and overview of all the foreign policy issues that Carter had to deal with:
The Legacy of Jimmy Carter's Foreign Policy (Council on Foreign Relations)
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who passed away this week at the age of one-hundred, leaves behind a rich and at times confounding foreign policy legacy that eludes any simplistic narrative.
And this article from the Guardian praises his achievements:
Jimmy Carter wasn't just the best former president. He was the most successful | Peter G Bourne (the Guardian)
Critics often imply his time in the White House was a failure, but Carter got more done in four years than most presidents accomplish in twice the time
25 years of President Putin
The end of December 2024 saw the 25th Anniversary of Putin taking centre stage role in Russia: Boris Yeltsin officially resigned on Dec. 31, 1999, anointing Vladimir Putin, then prime minister, as his successor.
This anniversary has led to analysis in the media as to the reasons for Putin's longevity, the state of Russia and the war in Ukraine.
This article from the Ukrainian newspaper, the Kyiv Independent, traces key events in Putin's 'reign':
The following BBC article further examines the key events of the past 25 years and discusses what factors have made Putin so powerful:
Vladimir Putin: From Russia's KGB to a long presidency defined by war in Ukraine (BBC News)
Vladimir Putin has been in power since 2000, longer than any Kremlin leader since Joseph Stalin.
Anniversaries for 2025
The Council of Foreign Relations site has a list of the ten most significant anniversaries for 2025 which include the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, the 50th anniversary of the start of the Cambodian genocide and 75th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.
As the CFR site comments: Anniversaries mark the passage of time, recall our triumphs, and honor our losses.
And for teachers they always provide a good opportunity to revisit key historical events and highlight their significance.
Ten Anniversaries to Note in 2025 (Council on Foreign Relations)
As 2024 comes to a close, here are ten notable historical anniversaries to mark in 2025.
We will of course revisit these anniversaries during the course of the year on this blog page.
Site update and new curriculum
In 2025 we will continue to update existing pages with new content and resources - and to add new topics that you, the subscribers, request!
During the past month we have been updating Paper 3 Europe, Section 16 and we are currently working on a new topic - Paper 2, Topic 07 on Industrialisation.
As soon as we know more about the content of the new curriculum (the final report will be issued in June), we will start working on this so the site will be ready for teaching the new curriculum in August 2026.
Happy New Year and please continue to contact us with your questions, comments and suggestions!