MODERN POLITICS: Ken Burns, "The U.S. and the Holocaust," 3 parts, 6 hours of tape.

This is an in-depth explanation of the U.S. involvement during the 30s and 40s of following the rise of Nazi fascism, (Part 1. “The Golden Door” (Beginnings to 1938); Part 2: “Yearning to Breathe Free” (1938-1942); and Part 3: “Homeless, Tempest Tossed” (1942- ).

Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein’s three-part, six-hour documentary series, The U.S. and the Holocaust, examines how the American people and our leaders responded to one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of the twentieth century, and how this catastrophe challenged our identity as a nation of immigrants and the very ideals of our democracy.

Part One: “The Golden Door,” (beginnings to 1938) After decades of open borders, a xenophobic backlash prompts the United States to pass laws restricting immigration. In Germany, Hitler finds support for his antisemitic rhetoric and the Nazis begin their persecution of Jewish people, causing many to flee to neighboring countries or America. FDR and other world leaders are concerned by the growing refugee crisis but fail to coordinate a response. 2:07, 14,159 word script, Lesson Plans (Activities) 3,485 words (dialectic journal)

Part Two: “Yearning to Breathe Free,” (1938-1942) After Kristallnacht, Jews are desperate to escape Hitler’s expanding reach. Americans are united in their disapproval of Nazi brutality but divided on whether or how to act even as World War II begins. Charles Lindbergh speaks for isolationists while FDR tries to support the European democracies. The Nazis invade the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust begins in secret. 2:16, 15,000 word script, Activities 5,882 words

Part Three: “The Homeless, Tempest-Tossed,” (1942- ) The first reports of the killing reach the United States. A group of dedicated government officials form the War Refugee Board to finance and support rescue operations. As the Allies advance, soldiers uncover mass graves and liberate German concentration camps, revealing the sheer scale of the Holocaust. The danger of its reverberations becomes apparent. 2:09, 2,840 word script, Activities, 5,882 words

Connections with the American Eugenics movement, American genocidal policies toward Native Americans, and Jim Crow laws and Hitler’s policies and Nazi laws. Hitler explains America’s greatness as a country comes from its willingness to mass murder the Native population. FDR’s attempts to rebuke German fascism were rendered hollow when Germans pointed to the segregation in the US.

Included in the plans: A Telescript for each episode
A lesson plan, per activities, involving a dialectic journal on questions and themes raised by Burns during his epic history. Teacher then decides how to break up activities (by question or theme, discussion, writing annotations in each activity, reading the script.




Access to Mr. Brovsky’s Vault; and his work on the Trilogy