Jewish parents -- how and at what age did your kids learn about the Holocaust?

[Anonymous]

My daughter is in 2nd grade. She's seen the Sound of Music, she knows the Nazis were "the ultimate bad guys" (my words) and that Hitler was their leader, she knows WWII was fought to keep the world safe from their evil ways -- but she doesn't know the rest of the story. We're Jewish and I can't wrap my brain around how to explain, at the very least, that Nazis hate Jews -- never mind what actually happened with the camps and all.

I'm thinking about this now for a few reasons: one, my brother and his family were visiting a few weeks ago and we went to Udvar-Hazy, where they have Nazi planes on display, and my nephew (also in 2nd grade) started telling my daughter what he knows about Nazis -- which is considerably more since his great-grandmother (my SIL's grandmother) was an Auschwitz survivor. Two, by this time in my own life I had already visited Dachau (because apparently that's a good family outing when you're spending the summer in Austria?). And three, it seems like it won't be that long before she learns about/is confronted with antisemitism given how emboldened neo-Nazis are these days.

I can't remember a time when I didn't know about the Holocaust and antisemitism. My Hebrew School teacher when I was in 2nd grade was a survivor. We read I Never Saw Another Butterfly. I also vividly remember dreams of being chased through the woods by Nazis. So maybe I learned about it too young? I dread my daughter "finding out" about this chapter in history and her inevitable questions ("the kids too?") but I also feel like I want her to learn about it from me, at least initially -- unlike 9/11, which she first heard about in school. Ugh. Of course teachable moments are best, rather than an out-of-the-blue discussion, but all suggestions welcome. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I have 3 kids and the older two are 8 and 6 now. My husband took them to the holocaust museum in DC years ago now.

Right now we are talking about Passover and the Jews being slaves.

[Anonymous]

I'm a Jewish educator and a mom, so I come at this from two different angles. We start teaching kids formally about this in the 6th grade but it comes in more "informal" ways beginning in 3rd grade. For example, when we teach 3rd graders about places in Israel, we touch on Yad Vashem and give some pretty easy to tackle information about what it is and what it honors. We find most kids have a vague awareness of things by then, mostly through the avenues you mentioned (movies like Sound of Music or Indiana Jones, or "stuff" like the planes at Udvar Hazy).

For my own kids, I definitely used movies to set the stage for conversations before they were ready for the whole things at once. You would be amazed how many kids' movies from a certain era employ the device of the London Blitz to set the stage for a plot, so that's a great place to start. For example, Bedknobs and Broomsticks holds up great, most kids between the ages of 6-10 really enjoy it, and it deals pretty honestly with the blitz. So after we watched it, I talked to my kids about why those planes were dropping bombs on London and worked my way back from there.

There are also children's books that can help you out. I like Keeping the Promise and The Yellow Star, which are both very honest and at the same time age appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Probably at three.

Me: he looks like a nazi with his shaved head
Kid: what's a Nazi?
Me: someone who hates Jews and black people and wants to kill them all
Them: why?
Me: because they're sick in the head and filled with hate in their heart

[Anonymous]

I don't remember the age. I guess when she asked if mommy had grandparents. And we had to explain why mommy never knew her grandparents. I do not recall if that was before we went to the childrens' exhibit at the USHM. Also don't recall we when explained about where bubbe and zaide had been during the war.

She is now a proud Jew, and a social justice activist, FWIW.

[Anonymous]

Around 5. It followed on conversations about black-white segregation in the US. I didn't get into a lot of details, just explained that people had "been mean to Jewish children like you and sent them to jail just because they were Jewish, and it was called the Holocaust."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably at three.

Me: he looks like a nazi with his shaved head
Kid: what's a Nazi?
Me: someone who hates Jews and black people and wants to kill them all
Them: why?
Me: because they're sick in the head and filled with hate in their heart

OMG, seriously?

[Anonymous]

The Holocaust Museum recommends a minimum age of 10 to visit. That seems reasonable to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Holocaust Museum recommends a minimum age of 10 to visit. That seems reasonable to me.

my oldest is 9, in 3rd grade, and we'll start broaching the subject next year at the earliest. my kids go to a school with a social activist bent and they have been reading a lot about the civil rights movement. but the holocaust is a whole different ball of wax and it can really affect how you view yourself, as a Jew, and the history of our people. we are further away from the holocaust than when i was growing up (my grandparents were first generation Americans and three of them fought in WWII), so it may not smart as much, but it really changed me and felt like a huge burden to carry around.

[Anonymous]

Not sure if this is available in English, but I took my seven year old to see this musical play "La Revolte des Couleurs" last weekend. In the story, certain colors of the rainbow are erased, one by one, by the new teacher who is operating under the orders of the Permanent Government. The remaining colors end up revolting (hence the title of the play). I believe most of the adults immediately saw the link to the holocaust and authoritarian governments, while the kids related on a different level. But it was a good introduction to the idea of discrimination, and the need to participate in public life.

https://www.amazon.fr/r%C3%A9volte-couleurs-Sylvie-Bahuchet/dp/2742763341

[Anonymous]

It’s a delicate matter. I learned, as a kid, by reading many books about World War 2. Then in Sunday school. I am part Jewish and I remember asking my mother why Jews have been hated, so virulently, throughout history. The mind cannot process the horror.

[Anonymous]

I took my kids to the children’s exhibit at the Holocaust museum when my oldest was about 8 (she asked), middle was 6 and youngest was in a stroller. The youngest didn’t have any jdea what was going on. It was over the head of my 6 year old. My 8 year old was very upset. She didn’t want to talk about it after we left. She refused to discuss it for years. I regretted not waiting until she was a little older. She was a sensitive and anxious kid. We had casual conversations about it prior to that visit on the level of Nazis didn’t like the Jews and many Jews died. My middle learned about it in depth around age 10 (5th grade). He was definitely ready.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Holocaust Museum recommends a minimum age of 10 to visit. That seems reasonable to me.

my oldest is 9, in 3rd grade, and we'll start broaching the subject next year at the earliest. my kids go to a school with a social activist bent and they have been reading a lot about the civil rights movement. but the holocaust is a whole different ball of wax and it can really affect how you view yourself, as a Jew, and the history of our people. we are further away from the holocaust than when i was growing up (my grandparents were first generation Americans and three of them fought in WWII), so it may not smart as much, but it really changed me and felt like a huge burden to carry around.

How were you told about the holocaust as a child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Holocaust Museum recommends a minimum age of 10 to visit. That seems reasonable to me.

my oldest is 9, in 3rd grade, and we'll start broaching the subject next year at the earliest. my kids go to a school with a social activist bent and they have been reading a lot about the civil rights movement. but the holocaust is a whole different ball of wax and it can really affect how you view yourself, as a Jew, and the history of our people. we are further away from the holocaust than when i was growing up (my grandparents were first generation Americans and three of them fought in WWII), so it may not smart as much, but it really changed me and felt like a huge burden to carry around.

How were you told about the holocaust as a child?

honestly, i cannot remember. we did have survivors and an American soldier who liberated a camp come and talk to my Hebrew school class, but again i cannot remember what age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Holocaust Museum recommends a minimum age of 10 to visit. That seems reasonable to me.

my oldest is 9, in 3rd grade, and we'll start broaching the subject next year at the earliest. my kids go to a school with a social activist bent and they have been reading a lot about the civil rights movement. but the holocaust is a whole different ball of wax and it can really affect how you view yourself, as a Jew, and the history of our people. we are further away from the holocaust than when i was growing up (my grandparents were first generation Americans and three of them fought in WWII), so it may not smart as much, but it really changed me and felt like a huge burden to carry around.

How were you told about the holocaust as a child?

honestly, i cannot remember. we did have survivors and an American soldier who liberated a camp come and talk to my Hebrew school class, but again i cannot remember what age.

I suspect that a generation or two ago, the holocaust was one of those topics that was part of the family and broader culture conversation -- and that there was no issue of how to first introduce it to children.