Lost River Camps

How should I explain the topic of concentration camps to my third-grade students?

We are reading a book called "Who was Anne Frank?" and it says how Jews were sent to concentration camps. It doesn't explain further, but I know that my students are going to ask me about them. I feel like third grade is too young to describe exactly what happened there, but I also don't want to lie or give them too much of a sugar-coated version of what happened. What would you say? And remember, some are very sensitive and I don't want to upset them too much (or their parents). Serious answers only please.

Public Comments

1. i wouldnt go into too much detail about the killings just say many bad things happened to the jew there that we not acceptable in other words
2. Send a note home, see how many parents disagree with you telling them the truth, it's a hard subject, but we all need to hear it someday. If parents disagree tell them the technical version. A place designed to house many Jews using a minimal amount of guards. If the parents think the children should know, you should tell them.
3. Honestly, all you have to say is "concertration camps were camps were the Jews were killed"- Its descriptive enough to tell them what happened but not too descriptive to scare them. They usually won't ask too many questions after that ;)
4. I would explain that people were put in "areas" behind fences and were forced to do things they didnt want to do. I would mention that people died there, as this is very important to teach children about history but I would go into TOO much detail. They were forced to work 18 hours a day with no pay, they were starved to death. that kind of thing.
5. Children are very amenable to truth. Teach them that governments are forced to create concentration camps whenever the people get wise to scams and start to think of hanging the leaders. Teach them that with technology, the future camps will be much harder to escape from, and that experiments on their minds, bodies and genetic framework will satisfy the infinite curiosity of mad scientists who have no moral guardrails. Tell them that over 13,000 Nazi scientists were quietly given Visas and put to work in over 230 American Universities, to continue research in the Mind Sciences, Collective Behavior and other fascinating fields that, if known, would incite a mass panic today. Tell them why the many cameras really exist, and that data, surveys and strategic gathering of blood and DNA information is being compiled for use in formulating the perfect race. Teach them that many actually believe that people are a nuisance, and a threat to the earth. (google: GEORGIA GUIDESTONES) This should spur their interest in personal protection and research of topics that really matter. Hurry, before the chip implants...for after that, there will be no chance of overcoming the disadvantage, ever again. They'll experience a truly exciting class, if you do this.
6. Normally, I would say have them watch Spielberg's "Schindler's List", but that would be WAAAAYYY TOO graphic for 8 year olds! Lord knows, it bothered ME for weeks after watching, and I'm ex-military and a former crime scene detective too! d:) This is a VERY difficult topic to discuss, however I would be straightforward with them about what the war was about, explaining racism...why hatred played a big role in the war and the holocaust. You shouldn't have to sugar coat it, but I probably wouldn't concentrate on too much of the brutality in the war. You might delay the lesson until you can try contacting the US Holocaust Museum online (http://www.ushmm.org/). I'm certain they have prepared curricula for the topic for that age group that may help you out in this area. You could also contact the Yad Vashem holocaust museum in Israel at: http://www.yadvashem.org/ They speak and write English too, so don't worry about translation. d:)
7. Tough question to answer. I remember reading that the German government, to make things better for it's people, decided to blame everyone's problems on people based on their religion. So they put in prisons these people who had the "wrong religion." Of course, doing that did not make life better for everyone. It made things worse; bigger prisons had to be maintained and when you put so many people in prison, jobs were not being filled. Everyone suffered one way or another. That is why this idea is never done again! It did not work and cost a fortune for the German government to operate. Money they did NOT have.
8. Yes, a very tough subject. Here's how one teacher dealt with it. Remember the "Blue Eyes/ Brown Eyes" exercise which Jane Elliott conducted with the young children in her classroom years ago? She had been teaching about civil rights that year and then Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered. She wanted to respond, to make racism real to her class of all white students, I think the kids were probably 2nd or 3rd grade. She conducted a 3 day exercise, 1st day all the blue eyed children had to wear collars for the day (so they could be identified from a distance) and she explained to the class that brown eyed people were cleaner, better and smarter than blue eyed people. The 2nd day, all the brown eyed children had to wear collars and on that day, all the blue eyed students were smarter, cleaner, better than then brown eyed people. The 3rd day, all the collars came off and the children talked about how they felt and each wore an essay about the exercise. Jane has a web site and is still teaching about racism and bigotry. Needless to say, her exercise, which she did every year with her class, created quite a stir, several videos made of it - Now a spunky 70s old lady, she spoke at the college where I work a year or two ago and near about knocked my socks off.
9. As a high school history teacher I can definitely say that being honest is better than sugar-coating the facts. Students can handle the truth. What they can't handle is being told in high school that they were lied to in elementary school. There are children's books out there, with illustrations, that describe the Holocaust in detail yet are still sensitive to the learner. Your local book store, or perhaps library, should be of great assistance. You'll do fantastic!