Target Audience: English, History, and Social Studies teachers, grades 7-12

Where does antisemitism come from?  How did the Holocaust happen? These are difficult questions that many of today’s students grapple with. The phenomenon of antisemitism (anti-Judaism before the modern era) is over 2,000 years old. Often, workshops that deal with the Holocaust often neglect history prior to the late 19th and 20th centuries. This highly interactive session outlines the larger context of antisemitism, and its manifestations and trajectory throughout European history. We offer the content teachers need to help students understand the origins and persistence of the “longest hatred.”  Using interactive primary sources—both visual and textual—teachers will experience student activities and leave with classroom ready materials.