The Holocaust: Remembrance, Respect, and Resilience

Cover of "The Holocaust" e-book featuring an illustration of a tree with branching roots

Image adapted from "Tree Vector Black White" via Jing.fm, licensed under Creative Commons CC0.

Resource Description

The Holocaust is difficult to describe, hard to understand, and even more difficult to explain. It was a destructive series of events with many roots and branches, a catastrophic period of history with global and enduring consequences. Thus, the mass murder of European Jewish people is also or alternatively described by many in Hebrew as the Shoah or ‘Destruction’ by many organizations including Yad Vashem.

Our goal in this open textbook is to inform and inspire, to understand and to remember. We chose three ‘Rs’ in our title to represent our shared purposes: Remembrance, Respect, and Resilience. In remembering the Holocaust, we work towards respecting the memories of millions of people who were killed and who died in the wake of war and genocide. We pledge to never again allow aggressors to engage in genocide, supporting Holocaust education for and about human rights. We join with those organizations, nations, and states (in the United States and around the globe) who stand up with resilience against antisemitism, racism, and xenophobia. Holocaust education is also a component of antisemitism education, improving curricula in all disciplines, especially in social studies (or social sciences) and the humanities.

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CC BY-NC 4.0

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Online Resource

View the entire resource online here: The Holocaust: Remembrance, Respect, and Resilience

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Michael Polgar

Michael F. Polgar, PhD is a co-editor of the OER textbook, The Holocaust: Remembrance, Respect, and Resilience. He is a professor and sociologist working at Penn State University in Hazleton, PA. Michael is committed to Holocaust Education and also author of the book Holocaust and Human Rights Education. With co-editor Suki John, Ph.D., Michael is a descendant (son and grandson) of Holocaust survivors from Budapest Hungary. Some of the Polgar family, including Michael’s father Steven Polgar PhD, his aunt Vera John-Steiner PhD, and his Grandparents Sophie and Ferenc Polgar, survived the Bergen Belsen concentration camp.

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Suki John

Suki John, PhD is editor of arts content and co-editor of The Holocaust: Remembrance, Respect, and Resilience. She is a Professor of Classical & Contemporary Dance at Texas Christian University, and Director of Dance for the Texas Jewish Arts Association. Having worked internationally as a dance artist and scholar for most of her career, she continues to teach, choreograph, and write about the intersections between dance, history, activism, and culture. Her book, Contemporary Dance in Cuba: técnica cubana as Revolutionary Movement (McFarland Press 2012) is a personal and scholarly account of Cuban dance. She founded The Sh’ma Project: Move Against Hate, which is centered around Sh’ma, a choreodrama and dance film.