Tennessee Standards for Holocaust Education

All 5th grade students, students who study U.S. history, and students who study world history and geography across the state of Tennessee are required to study the Holocaust and genocide as part of the mandated social studies curriculum. Below are the 2019 educational standards that outline what each group of students will learn on each of these subjects:

5th Grade

5.21 - Analyze the significance of the Holocaust and its impact on the U.S.

World History & Geography

W. 47 - Describe how geography and technology (e.g., airplanes, advanced medicine, propaganda, radar) influenced wartime strategies, including: blitzkrieg, “island hopping”, kamikaze, and strategic bombing.

W. 49 - Describe the persecution of Jews and other targeted groups in Europe leading up to World War II, and explain why many people were unable to leave and their efforts to resist persecution.

W. 50 - Explain the state-sponsored mass murder of the Jews in Nazi-controlled lands, and describe the varied experiences of Holocaust survivors and victims.

W. 53 - Describe the cultural, economic, geographic, and political effects of World War II, including:

  • Casualties of war (military and civilian)
  • Changes to geopolitical boundaries
  • Creation of the United Nations
  • Destruction of cultural heritage
  • Division of Germany
  • Impact of the Nuremberg trials
  • Refugees and displaced populations

U.S. History

U.S. 47 - Analyze the response of the U.S. to the plight of European Jews before the start of the war, the U.S. liberation of concentration camps during the war, and the immigration of Holocaust survivors after the war.

U.S. 51 - Identify the roles and sacrifices of individual American soldiers, as well as the unique contributions of special fighting forces such as the Tuskegee Airmen, the 442nd Regimental Combat team, the 101st Airborne, and the Navajo Code Talkers.

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