Civics and Student Participation

This article responds to the curricular challenges teachers face with Holocaust education, including cursory treatments and a lack of focus on individual experiences. First, the author argues for a case-study approach to help students reengage concrete and complex features of the Holocaust as a point of departure for subsequent inquiry. In addition to providing a rationale and recommended content for teaching about the Holocaust, the author provides a case-study example in the form of a detailed historical explication of the Holocaust in Latvia. Last, the author situates this case study within social studies pedagogy and offers generative possibilities for practice.