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
IGCSE students who are studying Depth Study E on the Second World War will cover the Holocaust as part of this topic; however, Holocaust Memorial Day provides the opportunity to also 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; as we mentioned then, although Carter's foreign policy is not covered in the IGCSE course, nevertheless, you may wish to discuss with students his successes and failures as a President.
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.
Anniversaries for 2025
The Council of Foreign Relations site has a list of the ten most significant historical anniversaries for 2025 which include events covered in topics within the IGCSE course such as the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, 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 e.g. through displays, discussions in class and/or assemblies.
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
Now that we have finished the Option A text book, we will update the assessment sections with examples from the topics in Option A.
We will also continue to add content and activities to all topics within the course and will provide extra materials to help students prepare for the prescribed topics for Paper 2.
The prescribed topics for examinations in 2025 as are follows:
Core Option A:
- Why was there a civil war in the United States and what were its results? (March exam – India only)
- How was Germany unified? (June exam)
- Why was there a civil war in the United States and what were its results? (November exam)
Core Option B:
- To what extent was the League of Nations a success? (March exam - India only)
- To what extent was the League of Nations a success? (June exam)
- How far was Hitler's foreign policy to blame for the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939? (November exam)
Happy New Year and please get in touch if you have comments and suggestions as to what you would like to see on the site!