Genocide Commemoration Day

April 15, 2025

For the fifth year, we are hosting an all-District Genocide Commemoration Day.  At DHS, classes will be assigned to one of the keynote sessions, and then students will have options to build out the rest of their individual schedules, following their interests through the Learn, Remember and Take Action components of the programming.

This annual event is made possible through the generous sponsorship of the District 113 Foundation and a grant from the DHS PTO, as well as the support of the District 113 administration and Board of Education.  Special thanks to the Illinois Holocaust Museum for their guidance and support.

All-day programming in person and online

• Lest We Forget—This exhibit includes profiles of victims, survivors, rescuers and upstanders with connections to District 113.  The moving biographies, often told by family members and each with a photograph, will be on display on the windows and on showcases outside the Auditorium.  The collection can be viewed in our "Remember" section below.
• Bosnia/Srebrenica Genocide 30th Anniversary mini-museum—Visit the front hall during the week of Genocide Commemoration to view striking films, pictures, timelines and other information on the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide in Bosnia.  To preview, we suggest this source: Srebrenica Timeline of a Genocide.
• Rwanda Genocide mini-museum—This is a display we put up in 2024 and repeat this year to provide context for one of our keynote speakers, Kizito Kalima, who is a Rwanda Genocide Survivor.  Visit the front hall to view striking films and profiles of Survivors Kizito Kalima and Claire Mukundente and upstander Gary Bennett.  
• Armenian Genocide—2025 marks the 110th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.  Visit the front hall to see profiles of victims and survivors and to learn how the tragedy led to the recognition of "genocide" as a crime under international law.  
• "The Intent To Destroy In Whole Or In Part" This is part of Article II of the Genocide Convention, a key part of the definition of genocide.  We will have a display of documents that reveal the "intent" of perpetrators in various genocides since the 1800s.
• Wall of Names—This is a tribute to those whose lives were lost to genocide.  These gold-on-black panels have been part of our annual displays for many years now.  They hold representations of victims from various genocides and were inspired by the website and hashtag #TogetherWeRemember.
• Take Action Options—Our student team is working on compiling a variety of petitions on pending bills and other public policies, and we will have these both at our in-person displays and online; you can access these options under the "Take Action" section below and on Instagram.  
• Upstanders—stories of individuals and groups from right here at DHS to internationally recognized people who have made a difference and how; included is a display of a selection of people designated as Righteous Among the Nations, which connects to our lunchtime session (see details below)

Keynote Speaker Session Information

Social Studies teachers will tell their classes which of the two main sessions (periods 3, 7) they are assigned to attend.  In addition, students will be allowed to sign up to attend any of the other sessions, as space permits.  More information to come in your Social Studies classes the week before Spring Break.

3rd Period - Howard Reich, son of Holocaust Survivors (Performing Arts Center—10:31-11:28 am)

Reich will tell us about his mother’s story, as depicted in his book and film titled Prisoner of Her Past.  He will also tell us about the planned neo-Nazi march in Skokie in the late 1970s, which galvanized the community of Holocaust Survivors who lived there and led to the founding of the IL Holocaust Museum and Education Center. Special Note: WTTW will have its 15th annual broadcast the film Prisoner of Her Past at 2 p.m. on April 20, in honor of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is also streaming on pbs.org. Read about this film and Mr. Reich's other work at his website.

7th Period - Kizito Kalima, Rwanda Genocide Survivor (Performing Arts Center—1:15-2:12 pm)

Mr. Kalima will tell us about the traumatic experience he endured during the genocide in 1994 and his journey to healing since that time.  Kalima will also tell us about the Peace Center for Forgiveness & Reconciliation, where he is Founder and Executive Director.  You can read about Mr. Kalima at the IL Holocaust Museum website and at the website of the Peace Center for Forgiveness & Reconciliation.

Smaller Sessions 

The Journey Back, a VR Experience—You will have the opportunity to use VR Goggles and take a walk through two documentaries that introduce the stories of Holocaust Survivors Fritzie Fritzshall and George Brent (who was our 2022 speaker). Through virtual reality, you will be transported to the places where they grew up and where they experienced the horrors of the Holocaust. Their stories have moments of compassion, of inspiration, and of profound sadness.  With A Promise Kept, journey to the notorious Auschwitz killing center and hear from Survivor Fritzie Fritzshall as she fulfills her promise to the 599 women who helped save her life. Don’t Forget Me bears witness to Survivor George Brent’s will to survive in the face of Nazi tyranny as he guides viewers through Auschwitz, Mauthausen, and Ebensee concentration camps.  The Journey Back, A VR Experience was created by Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in collaboration with East City Films and made possible through the generous support of the Spagat Family.  (Library Yellow Room—all periods except during keynotes 3rd and 7th periods)

Film Screening: Skokie: Invaded But Not Conquered—a film about a proposed neo-Nazi march in Skokie that galvanized the large community of Holocaust Survivors, including the parents of Howard Reich, our 3rd period speaker (Performing Arts Center)  Here is the detailed description from PBS:  "Skokie: Invaded but not Conquered examines the personalities and issues connected to the attempted neo-Nazi march in Skokie in the late 1970s. The film makes extensive use of archival footage and contemporary interviews to reveal how a debate over First Amendment rights inspired Holocaust survivors to become activists, ultimately leading them to share their collective and individual histories..."  More information from Chicago’s PBS station, WTTW and in a 2013 article by Howard Reich in The Chicago Tribune.  (Homeroom + 2nd Period in the Performing Arts Center)

“How the Nazis Came to Power”—This will be a small, interactive seminar with Social Studies teachers Mrs. Quagliana and Mr. Schwartz, who will lead students in a review using documents, film clips and discussion. (2nd Period in either G109/111 or E116; space is limited)

"Righteous Among the Nations"—Get inspired by the many courageous people who risked their lives to save people from the Nazis’ genocidal plans—The Holocaust Education Center will lead this interactive webinar session.  This lesson looks at how “upstanders” across Europe helped save the lives of Jews. Case studies include Denmark’s “rescue by sea” of nearly all Danish Jews, the heroism of Irena Sendler in Warsaw, the diplomatic efforts of leaders like Chiune Sugihara, etc. The presentation ends with a virtual visit to the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem. (E116, 11:40-12:30)

April 16, 2024

For the fourth year, we are hosting an all-District Genocide Commemoration Day.  At DHS, classes will be assigned to one or more of the keynote sessions, and then students will have options to build out the rest of their individual schedules, following their interests through the Learn, Remember and Take Action components of the programming.

All day programming in person and online

• Rwanda Genocide 30th Anniversary mini-museum - Visit the front hall during the week of Genocide Commemoration to view striking films and profiles of survivor Claire Mukundente and upstander Gary Bennett, and to explore what Americans knew about the genocide as it unfolded.  

• Wall of Names - This is a tribute to those whose lives were lost to genocide. These gold-on-black panels have been part of our annual displays for many years now.  They hold representations of victims from various genocides and were inspired by the website and hashtag #TogetherWeRemember. This year, we also added a separate display related to the Tree of Life session, honoring victims of recent tragedies at places of worship.

• Lest We Forget - This display includes profiles of victims, survivors, rescuers and upstanders with connections to District 113.  The moving biographies, often told by family members and each with a photograph, will be on display on the windows and on showcases outside the Auditorium. The collection can be viewed in our "Remember" section below.

• Take Action Options - Our student team is working on compiling a variety of petitions on pending bills and other public policies, and we will have these both at our in-person displays and online; you can access these options under the "Take Action" section below and on Instagram.  We also provided three sessions for students to learn upstander techniques (bystander intervention) through the ADL's Peer Influencer Training.

• Upstander Wall - with stories of individuals and groups from right here at DHS to internationally recognized people who have made a difference and how; this year, we have a new display of a selection of people designated as Righteous Among the Nations

Session Information

Social Studies teachers will tell their classes which of the three main sessions (periods 1, 3, 5) they are assigned to attend.  In addition, students will be allowed to sign up to attend any of the other main and smaller sessions, as space permits.  More information to come in your Social Studies classes the week before Spring Break.

1st Period - John Geiringer & Adam Weber, "The History of Genocide Under International Law" (Auditorium—8:10-9:07 am)

Based on work they have done co-teaching a course at Chicago Kent College of Law, Geiringer and Weber will discuss how the international laws meant to prevent and prosecute genocide were created and how they have been used in specific cases, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, where Mr. Weber served as prosecutor.

3rd Period - Holocaust Survivor Ida Paluch Kersz (Auditorium—10:31-11:28 am)

Kersz will tell us about her life before, during and after WWII.  You can read Kersz’s story or hear her on a new podcast at the IL Holocaust Museum.

5th Period - Dr. Danny M. Cohen (Auditorium—1:15-2:12 pm)

Dr. Danny M. Cohen is Professor of History and serves as co-chair of the IL Holocaust and Genocide Commission.  In this immersive, interactive learning experience, Prof. Cohen will center our common humanity as we consider the physical and emotional impacts of genocide for those who have endured the Holocaust, the Rwanda Genocide and other horrors, and also for those of us who learn about and thus bear witness and the burden of carrying those stories and images.

Smaller Sessions 

How to Handle Hate & Antisemitism on College Campuses and Beyond—GCD has been tracking hate on college campuses for many years, and tensions continue to rise, which relates to the foundations of what the ADL describes as the "pyramid of hate."  This panel of university students and representatives from local and campus support organizations will introduce you to the knowledge and skills to manage situations you may encounter at college and beyond.  (4-I in E114 - please note the change)

A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting—Survivors & Allies on Healing Hate—In this film screening, you will hear from the survivors of the Tree of Life Synagogue tragedy and the Muslim and African American allies who came together to fight for love, not hate.  **After the screening, we will be joined live on screen by one the people featured in the film. (2nd Period in E114)

Upstander/Bystander Intervention Trainings — DHS Peer Influencers, trained by the ADL, will lead this interactive session. (Periods 2, 4 and 6 in the Library Classroom)

One Survivor's Story — Immerse yourself in the story of one survivor, Charlotte Raunheim, the great grandmother of a current DHS student, Milo Shapiro (DHS '26), who will be there to share family photos and a recorded interview produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  Transcripts will be available, if you would like to follow along. (Periods 2 & 6 in E116)

Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance) & Genocide Commemoration Day — April 18, 2023

For the third year, we are hosting an all-District Genocide Commemoration Day, commemorating Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) with special programming.  At DHS, the student team wanted to fill the whole day and offer students options to build their own individual schedules, following their interests through the Learn, Remember and Take Action components of the in-person and online experiences.

All day programming in person and online

• Wall of Names - This is a tribute to those whose lives were lost to genocide.  These gold-on-black panels have been part of our annual displays for many years now.  They hold representations of victims from various genocides and were inspired by the website and hashtag #TogetherWeRemember.

• Lest We Forget - This display includes profiles of victims, survivors, rescuers and upstanders with connections to District 113.  The moving biographies, often told by family members and each with a photograph, will be on display on the windows and on showcases outside the Auditorium.  The collection can be viewed in our "Remember" section below.

• Hate Today - With the rise of antisemitism and other hate incidents, our student team felt it was important to once again put up both the College Campus Hate display and the interactive ADL H.E.A.T. map. Three of our sessions (ADL’s David Goldenberg, Peggy Shapiro of Stand With Us, and our very own Peer Influencers) will reference such incidents and how to deal with them, should you find yourself as a target or a bystander. You can view resources and learn how to combat hate in our "Hate Today" section below webpage.

• Take Action Options - Our student team is working on compiling a variety of petitions on pending bills and other public policies, and we will have these both at our in-person displays and online; you can access these options under the "Take Action" section below and on Instagram.  We also provided two sessions for students to learn upstander techniques through the ADL's Peer Influencer Training.

• Upstander Wall - with stories of individuals and groups from right here at DHS to internationally recognized people who have made a difference and how

• A Forgotten Genocide — 100 years since the Smyrna Catastrophe (Genocide of Greeks, Assyrians and Armenians)

• “Actually, they came first for the Disabled” - a display about people with disabilities in the Holocaust and connections to the US eugenics movement

• Early Warning Signs of Genocide in Ukraine & Artsakh, Azerbaijan - see the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention for the latest

• Americans and the Holocaust - We originally put up this display in one of the first years of the GCD program; we return to it this year to accompany the 1st period speaker, Dr. Daniel Greene, who will highlight his work on the original exhibition at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the book that resulted, and his work advising and appearing in the latest documentary from PBS, The US and the Holocaust.

• Update on Native Americans - In 2022, we studied the use of boarding schools as a form of cultural genocide, and we emphasized education as a tool to help the healing process.  This display will serve as an update and continued commitment to learning and to offering guidance for those who wish to take action.

• Timeline of Mexica
• Follow Us On Instagram 

Session Information, Detailed Speaker Biographies, Photos & Video Recordings

We will update this page with images and links to the video recordings as soon as they are available.

1st Period - Dr. Daniel Greene (Auditorium—8:10-9:07 am)

Daniel Greene (Highland Park High School Class of 1991) has been President and Librarian of the Newberry Library since 2019, where he had also served as Vice President for Research and Academic Programs and Director of the Dr. William M. Scholl Center for American History and Culture.  Greene curated Americans and the Holocaust, an exhibition that opened in April 2018 at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. Greene co-edited (with Edward Phillips) Americans and the Holocaust: A Reader (published in 2022). The exhibition also inspired The U.S. and the Holocaust, a documentary film directed by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, and Sarah Botstein that aired on PBS in September 2022. Greene served as an advisor and appeared in the film. In his presentation, Greene will show segments of the film and discuss the process of working with the filmmakers to document this important angle into the history of the Holocaust.  (This profile courtesy of the Newberry Library)

2nd Period - Professor Valentina Kuryliw (Auditorium—9:29-10:26 am)

Ms. Kuryliw will be joining us from Canada via Zoom, projected onto the screen.  Students will have the opportunity to ask questions via a Google Form.

A historian and retired teacher with over 40 years of experience, Ms. Valentina Kuryliw has dedicated her life to education. For over 16 years, Ms. Kuryliw has spent her summers volunteering in order to offer additional qualification courses for history teachers in Ukraine, focusing on teaching history using critical thinking skills and interactive methods.  She wrote a textbook that is used for training teachers in institutes and universities in Ukraine.  Ms. Kuryliw has been the Chair of the National Holodomor Education Committee of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress since 2009, and was recently appointed Director of the Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC). Ms. Kuryliw has conducted In-Service Teacher Training sessions across Canada on the Holodomor and Internment for professional organizations and school boards, spending years developing Holodomor teaching materials, including a Teaching Kit and Workbook for educators in Canada.  (This profile courtesy of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, photograph Wikipedia)

3rd Period - Eric Blaustein (Auditorium—10:31-11:28 am)

Eric was 6 years old in 1933 when the Nazi party entered his town of Chemnitz in Saxony (Eastern Germany).  He was from a middle class family, and things remained normal for them until 1938.  His family stayed in Germany, and in 1940, Eric’s father joined the Underground in another city.  At age 15, Eric became a grave digger.  Soon after, he went into open hiding – using papers that said he was a Hitler Youth.  He was arrested in September of 1944, as a suspected deserter of the German Army.  He confessed that he was Jewish, and not a German soldier, and was immediately sent to Buchenwald.  Upon entering Buchenwald, he swapped identities with an Italian inmate who had died, leaving behind his identity as Eric Blaustein and becoming a man named Luigi. He served as a laborer in the camp for five months, until he was liberated from a satellite camp of Buchenwald.  His entire family had survived the Holocaust. In 1948, he moved to Israel and fought in the War of Independence. This is also where he met his wife.  Eric came to the United States in 1954 and now lives near his daughter and grandchildren in Lombard, IL.  (This profile courtesy of the IL Holocaust Museum and Education Center)

4th Period - Violins of Hope (Auditorium—11:33am-12:40pm)

This session will feature both a presentation by Violins of Hope and performances by DHS students, who will be playing on these very precious instruments.

Israeli violin makers, Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein, have spent the last 20 years collecting and repairing 70 Holocaust-era violins and other stringed instruments from around the world, some with the Star of David on the back and others with names and dates inscribed within the instrument. Together, they have lovingly located and restored the violins to reclaim their lost heritage, give voice to the victims and reinforce essential messages of hope, harmony, and humanity.  Violins of Hope has been featured in books, print, film and television. They have been used in lectures and educational programs worldwide, exhibited in museums, and have been triumphantly played in concert halls around the globe. Through performances, exhibitions, and educational series, the instruments have impacted and inspired hundreds of thousands of people of all ages with a message of hope, resistance, resilience, and unity. (This profile courtesy of the JCC Chicago)  (This session runs from 11:33 am - 12:40 pm.  You may not bring food into the Auditorium, but you will be excused at 12:40 for your lunch period.

• see Chicago Tribune article "Violins from the Holocaust Arrive in Chicago" (13 April 2023)
• see this WGN story by Erin Ivory, who visited DHS to capture students, such as Abby Izaks (DHS class of 2024, whose great grandparents were Holocaust Survivors) playing the instruments, and Holocaust Survivor Eric Blaustein's reaction to watching the instruments be played

4th Period - Behind the Swastika: Where Hatreds Meet (E114—11:40am-12:25pm)

Opening with the genocide committed by Germany in Namibia, the lesson traces how the genocidal worldview of Nazism led to the Holocaust. Hitler’s admiration for U.S. Jim Crow laws and “Manifest Destiny” are also discussed, as is how the Nazis dehumanized and demonized Jewish people and Black people alike.  Presented by the Holocaust Education Center from Stand With Us. (This session runs from 11:40-12:25.  You may bring your lunch to E114.)

4th Period - Upstander/Bystander Intervention Training (G109—12:13-1:10pm)

DHS Peer Influencers, trained by the ADL, will lead this interactive session.  This session is repeated during other periods; interested students should only sign up once.  (This session runs from 12:13-1:10.  You may bring your lunch to G109.)

5th Period - David Goldenberg (Auditorium—1:15-2:12pm)

David Goldenberg is a member of the District 113 community and serves as Regional Director of the Midwest regional office of the ADL.  He has a background in advocacy, policy, engagement and philanthropy.  In the past, he has also worked as an associate staff member of the House Committee on Rules, staff director of the House Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process and co-staff director of the Democratic Israel Working Group.  He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago (JUF) and also serves on the Illinois State Treasurer’s Community Advisory Council and JFNA’s National Young Leadership Cabinet.  (This profile courtesy of the ADL Chicago)

6th Period - Gualberto Vilchis (Auditorium—2:17-3:14pm)

Gualberto Vilchis lives in Mexico and visits family here in the Chicago area often.  He is a gifted storyteller, whose passion for the history of the Aztecs has inspired him to join us today.  Mexico City used to be Tenochtitlan. The city where the Aztecs settled. Gualberto is Aztec on his father’s side, with his grandfather being Aztec and his grandmother from Tlaxcala. Gualberto has in-depth knowledge and first-hand culture of the Aztecs. He is very dedicated to sharing the story of his ancestors to ensure it isn’t forgotten. The Aztecs were a beautiful culture before the Spanish colonization and genocide, and in his speech, Gualberto will talk about how the world was in 1600, the cultures in Mexico, how the Aztecs came to rule Mexico, the destruction of Aztec culture and genocide by Spanish colonizers, his personal family history, and a couple of Aztec legends.  (This profile courtesy of the Vilchis family)

6th Period - “One Story Multiplied by 6 Million” & How to Deal With Antisemitism (E116—2:17-3:14pm)

Peggy Shapiro will tell a compelling personal story and connect it to how we can recognize and combat antisemitism in daily life and in spaces like college campuses.  Peggy Shapiro is the National Director of Special Projects for Stand With Us. A child of Holocaust survivors born in a displaced persons camp, she was one of the founding members of the Midwest Association of Children of Holocaust Survivors and the International Second Generation Association. She was appointed as special adviser to the president of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council by Elie Wiesel and served as the annual chairperson for the Elie Wiesel lecture series in Chicago for 26 years. Prior to her role in Stand With Us, she served as chairperson of the Foreign Language/ESL Department at the City Colleges of Chicago and professor for 31 years.  (This profile courtesy of the Jewish News Syndicate and Times of Israel)

For the second year, we had an all-District Genocide Commemoration Day.

All day programming in person and online

• Reading of Biographies at the start of each period
• Dimensions in Testimony - This is an interactive experience in which you see and can interact with a hologram of a Holocaust survivor, asking questions and getting real-time responses. It is generously hosted by the IL Holocaust Museum and Education Center (created by the USC Shoah Foundation).
• Wall of Names - These representations of victims from various genocides are displayed outside the DHS auditorium. #TogetherWeRemember
• Holocaust Survivor Poster Series - At HPHS, there will be a traveling poster exhibit of Holocaust Survivors, provided by the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.
• Lest We Forget - This display was put up outside the DHS Auditorium and can be viewed in our "Remember" section below. It includes profiles of victims, survivors, rescuers and upstanders with connections to District 113.
• Indian Boarding Schools - This display was put up in the DHS front hall; we compiled many resources, some of which can be viewed on our "American Indians" section below.
• College Campus Hate - We printed and displayed these DHS alumni experiences at various places across DHS for effect. You can view the collection in our "Hate Today" section below.
• Take Action Options - We provided many options for people to sign petitions to urge elected officials to take action on pending bills, both at our in-person displays and online; you can access these options under the "Take Action" section below.  We also provided two sessions for students to learn upstander techniques through the ADL's Peer Influencer Training.

Speakers - biographies and recordings

Speaker Session 1 - Dr. Brenda J. Child

Brenda J. Child is Northrop Professor of American Studies at the University of Minnesota and former chair of the Departments of American Studies and the Department of American Indian Studies. She is the author of award-winning books about American Indian history, including Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940, (1998), which won the North American Indian Prose Award; Holding Our World Together: Ojibwe Women and the Survival of Community, (2012), and a book for children, Bowwow Powwow (2018), which won the American Indian Youth Literature Award for best picture book. She served as a member of the board of trustees of the National Museum of the American Indian-Smithsonian and was President of the Native American & Indigenous Studies Association. Child was born on the Red Lake Ojibwe Reservation in northern Minnesota where she served as a member of a committee writing a new constitution for the 12,000-member nation.  (See full profile at the University of Minnesota website and this Aug 2021 article.)

What is genocide?

The term "genocide" originated during WWII by Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin and was adopted officially in 1948 by the United Nations in the Genocide Convention (UN).

Article I of the Genocide Convention states the following:

The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish. 

Article II of the Genocide Convention states the following:

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

• Killing members of the group;
• Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
• Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
• Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
• Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

• the US Criminal Code defines genocide and provides the means to prosecute and punish perpetrators
• the Office of Global Criminal Justice coordinates US cooperation with international agencies
• the War Crimes Rewards Program offers a reward to anyone who provides information that leads to legal action for perpetrators of genocide or other crimes
• NPR recently reviewed the history of bringing war criminals to justice, including those charged with genocide: "From Nuremberg to Darfur, history has seen some war criminals brought to trial"

Begin by reading the definition of "genocide" at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) site and the more comprehensive description from the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the description from Genocide Watch, which includes a link to the 8 or 10 Stages of Genocide. 

Cultural Genocide is a term that some people use to describe situations in which the identity of the people is targeted. Facing History has a helpful reading on this term. In July 2020, Fox News reported in a story on Tibet that the Dalai Lama named the situation there as an example of cultural genocide. See also the section on Indian Boarding Schools on the American Indian page of this website.

Information on Specific Genocides for Learning, Teaching & Taking Action

We encourage you to visit the Colorado Dept of Ed Timeline, the USHMM's Genocide Timeline and Country Case Studies page, Yale University's Genocide Studies Program, the USC Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive, and the University of Minnesota's Holocaust and Genocide Studies Resources page.

STAND also has a Genocide Education Toolkit that has a very helpful set of resources, and the Illinois Holocaust and Genocide Commission website has a set of resources as well.

Early Warnings - Conditions That May Lead to Genocide

The USHMM's Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide has an Early Warning Project to detect the conditions that may lead to genocide. The regions and cases listed below are a sampling of places on the watchlist for highest risk. Similarly, Genocide Watch has a three-tiered system of alerts and a list of regions that are at risk.

• Muslims in India - The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has an Early Warning Project to detect the conditions that may lead to genocide. They have noticed many such indicators in the Gujarat region of India. You can read more in this 2015 article from USHMM
• Ukraine 2022 - The unfolding situation in Ukraine raises many questions about what constitutes a crime during war, and whether evidence of civilian deaths can indicate genocide. We offer some sources below to help you study this continuing crisis and these issues of international law and humanitarian concern. Please also visit our "Learn" section above for the legal definition of genocide and the legal means to address it.  ***WARNING: Images in these reports may be very disturbing; proceed with caution.***
  • On March 15, 2022, the United States Senate passed a unanimous resolution calling Vladimir Putin a war criminal
  • On April 4, 2022, the PBS Newshour ran two reports: 1) "Russian withdrawal from Bucha exposes atrocities against Ukrainian civilians" and 2) "What international crimes are Russians committing in Ukraine?"
    • It may be helpful for you to also review the definition of the "Crime of Aggression" and the other crimes punishable by the International Criminal Court.
  • On April 4, 2022, The New York Times reported that "Satellite images show bodies lay in Bucha for weeks, despite Russian claims" and that residents of a town east of Kyiv recount "detention, beating, mock execution" occurred under Russian occupation.
    • It may be helpful to read how the NYTimes verifies "images of war taken in Ukraine"
  • On April 6, Eugene Finkel (a scholar of the Holocaust and a descendant of Holocaust survivors) wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Post that "What is happening in Ukraine is genocide. Period."
  • On April 12, NPR reported that President Biden used the term genocide when talking about what is happening in Ukraine. Earlier in the day, NPR broadcast an interview with Professor Leila Sadat: "it may be hard, but not impossible, to prove genocide in Ukraine"
  • On April 13 AP published EXPLAINER: Why using term ‘genocide’ matters in Ukraine war article to clarify whether the term genocide can be applied to current events in Ukraine.
  • War Crimes Watch Ukraine - a website created collaboratively by the Associated Press (AP) and PBS Frontline (updates ended Feb. 24, 2023)
  • Facing History And Ourselves has a feature on Teaching About the Ukrainian Refugee Crisis
  • The Washington Post published an article "For Holocaust survivors from Ukraine, Russian invasion stirs painful memories"

This section contains information and resources related to genocide, cultural genocide and related historical context. We humbly suggest resources for learning, healing and making amends.

Wounded Knee Massacre

In 1890, US soldiers, sent to stop a religious movement among Lakota people and other Plains Indians called the Ghost Dance, massacred hundreds of Lakota men, women and children at Wounded Knee. Watch a short video on the massacre from Ken Burns' film American Buffalo. In 1990, Congress formally apologized to the Lakota 100 years after the massacre. Lakota people continue to seek justice and redress for many actions by the US government and others since 1890. Read more in the featured articles below.

For an interactive learning experience, check out Genocide Watch's Genocide Watch's Wounded Knee TimestreamWounded Knee Timestream.

Here are some recent articles related to seeking healing and justice in the aftermath of the Wounded Knee Massacre:

• A Girl called 'Lost Bird' is Finally At Rest
• Native Americans Urge Scottish Museum to Return Artifacts From Wounded Knee Massacre
• Tribes Want Medals Awarded for Wounded Knee Massacre Rescinded

Boarding Schools

The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition has a history of US Indian boarding schools, including a primer and a curriculum on U.S. Indian Boarding Schools, which includes the map below.

Watch short video excerpts from PBS The American Experience: "We Shall Remain: Wounded Knee" (children taken away from their families, and the impact the education system had on children and their families). PBS has also produced a two-hour film and accompanying website Unspoken: America's Native American Boarding Schools.

Scholar Maggie Blackhawk sees the roots of this policy in an 1846 Supreme Court decision United States v. Rogers, in which the Court established the "plenary power doctrine."

We encourage you to also read the poem Indian Boarding School: The Runaways by Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa) and to view these video clips:

• Dennis Banks recalls his own experience and the trauma it caused in "What They Took Away: Reflections on Native Boarding Schools"
• Native American Rights Fund: Boarding School Healing (voices of survivors)
• MSNBC series The Vanished feature on boarding school survivors

• Native News Online: Indian Boarding Schools - A Dark Chapter in History

• PBS Newshour: Schools tried to forcibly assimilate Indigenous kids. Can the U.S. make amends?

UPDATE (April 2023) - Secretary HAALAND's report shows 2 Indian boarding schools in IL (in Peoria and in Des Plaines)

In May 2022, Secretary Haaland issued the report, summarized in a PBS Newshour story.  Here is one article that describes the site in Peoria (the other was in Des Plaines, what is now Maryville Academy).  You can also read use CTRL+F to search for Illinois in the full report and find details of each boarding school in Appendix A & B, and a set of maps in Appendix C.  

The map above is from the Resources page of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition website.

Governments of the USA and Canada confront this history

In 2008, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for the history of assimilation policies in the boarding schools, and a National Truth and Reconciliation Commission determined that the schools were part of "a conscious policy of cultural genocide." In March 2022, Pope Francis issued an apology for the Catholic Church's role. For more information

• article in the New York Times on the Pope's apology

• National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, which includes history and the apology in various languages

• June 2021 discovery of unmarked graves of children

In June 2021, Sec’y of the Interior Deb Haaland announced federal investigation & the announcement & official memorandum outlining the process. The report came out in early May 2022.

• Watch the PBS Newshour feature story on the report and read or search the entire text of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report and the 435-page Appendix with details about each of the schools.
• The report indicates that there were two boarding schools in Illinois.  An article from Illinois Public Media details one of the two sites - the one in Peoria (the other was in Des Plaines, what is now Maryville Academy).
• You can also watch Secretary Haaland talk about the intergenerational trauma caused by boarding schools.

Healing, Education and Taking Action

Part of healing is acknowledging and learning more about the history specific to boarding schools as well as broader American Indian history and culture. To guide your learning, we encourage you to explore resources from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, which includes curriculum on U.S. Indian Boarding Schools and Facing History and Ourselves' resources for teaching about Canada's residential schools (which may be a model for a future curriculum for US boarding schools).

Another part of the healing process is returning the remains of children who died at boarding schools to their communities. Explore those stories below.

• PBS film Home From School: The Children of Carlisle
• StoryCorps Returning Home: Three Oneida Children Find a Final Resting Place 

A third part of healing is taking action. The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition asks us to urge our elected officials (Rep. Schneider, Sen. Duckworth & Sen. Durbin) to support pending legislation “THE TRUTH AND HEALING COMMISSION ON INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL POLICIES IN THE U.S. ACT” (H.R.5444 AND S.2907). At DHS, we will have paper petitions that you can sign, but you can also make a phone call or contact them through their websites. See our "Take Action" section below page.

Learning, Connecting and Making Amends

One way to make amends and to help heal the wounds of horrors like the Wounded Knee Massacre is to learn more history, culture, terminology, and how to be an ally to Indigenous people. Explore the resources in this section, then look at the other sections on Land and Significant People.

Learn from the National Museum of the American Indian:

• The Impact of Words and Tips for Using Appropriate Terminology: Am I Using the Right Word?
• Land Acknowledgments
• Essential Understandings & guides for teaching

Learn about Native cultures and efforts to revive Native cultures:

• ChiNations Youth Council, their work on the First Nations Garden & a story about the garden from WBEZ
• Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative (CAICC)
• Evanston's Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum
• the Potawatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Center
• Dr. Brenda Child has written a lot about the Jingle Dress (featured on the Google Doodle)
• See How Unangax Culture and Dance Resurrected, Despite WWII Internment Camps (& learn about Unangax̂ (Aleut) Evacuation and Internment during World War II)
• the importance of Indigenous language
  • explained by Anton Treuer
  • examples: reviving Ojibwe and Cree languages using Tik Tok and the Ojibwe People's Dictionary
• "These Canoes Carry Culture"
• AIM (the American Indian Movement) Heart of the Earth Survival School
• Chicago as a center of Native urban culture: Over 140 Native nations are represented among the approximately 38,000 Native people who live in the Chicago area; read more starting on p. 17 of the report on The State of Racial Justice for American Indian Chicagoans from UIC. You can also watch a video exploring the ways "Chicago has always been Indian country."
• read about the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, or NAGPRA

Other sources for healing and learning to be a good ally:

• Changing the Narrative About Native Americans
• National Congress of American Indians
• IllumiNative has a helpful Do and Do and Do Not flier.

LAND - removal, reservations, allotment

“They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land, and they took it.” - Red Cloud, Lakota

The map below is from Aaron Carapella's collection Tribal Nations Maps, used with permission. We encourage you to visit Carapella's site and to zoom in on this map for a more detailed view.

The Invasion of America is a time-elapsed video showing the encroachment of the United States through settlement and land acquisition through treaties and other US government actions between 1776 and 1887. You can also explore this in more detail at the website, where you can enter your zip code and see which nations ceded land and under what circumstances. The results will link to more resources, including primary source documents, helping you dive deeper into history.

We also encourage you to read about "How American Indian Reservations Came To Be" from PBS.

Indian Removal

• Click on this interactive from the National Museum of the American Indian, which includes a fact sheet for easy reference.
• How Did Six Different Nations Try to Avoid Removal? (includes the Potawatomi, who were removed from the northern IL area where our schools are; see also the related 1836 Treaty)
• Explore the Diné/Navajo Long Walk 1868

Interactive Map

• Native Land Digital is an app to help map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages. Type in your zip code and then explore and learn.
• Native Land is an indigenous-led organization. You can read more about this project and its purpose here.
• They also have a Teacher's Guide.

Allotment

The 1887 Dawes Act set up a system of "allotment" aimed at breaking up the cultural practice of community ownership of land in an attempt to assimilate American Indians into US society. The US government divided reservations into individual plots assigned to the head of household who accepted the terms. All "surplus" land was then sold to settlers, totaling over 90 million acres. See more details at the National Park Service website.

Significant Native American Individuals

Below is a gallery of just a sampling of significant Native American individuals. In 2022, DHS displayed these and many other "Notable Native Americans" from Aaron Carapella's website and other sources. We encourage you to read their biographies.

Pictured left to right are Sitting Bull (Leader of the Hunkpapa Lakota tribe who led his people through years of resistance), Jane Johnston Schoolcraft (the first known American Indian literary writer), Ely Parker (fought with the Union during the Civil War, eventually appointed as Commissioner of Indian Affairs under Ulysses S. Grant), and Pontiac (Ottawa Indian chief who organized a group resistance).

Pictured left to right are Lydia Conley (First Native American to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court), Zitkala-Ša (writer, editor, translator, educator, and political activist sharing stories about the treatment of Native Americans), Blackhawk (Sauk leader and warrior who fought in the Blackhawk War of 1832), and Chief Billy Bowlegs (activist against the Indian Removal Act).

Inspired by the USHMM's History Unfolded project, Deerfield High School began a series of crowdsourcing projects of our own. Students in Social Studies classes participated in the research projects. Some of these were presented in past GCD events through interactive, touch-screen displays, and others are still available for your viewing through this website. Please read below.

Americans and the Holocaust

We participated in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's own crowdsourcing research project History Unfolded: US Newspapers and the Holocaust. Social Studies classes at DHS researched and submitted their findings to the site.

Rwanda Genocide

In 2019, our research project reflected the 25th anniversary of the Rwanda Genocide. The idea was to see how US newspapers covered the unfolding genocide. We created a website to collect and showcase our findings: please visit https://dhsuncovershistory.wixsite.com/rwanda.  The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum featured our work in an article on their History Unfolded project.

Uyghur Genocide

Please visit the GCD 2021 section above to see all the research compiled by students.

Hate in the USA

Please visit our section about GCD 2021 with the research we compiled on hate incidents in the USA in the last decade. This project was inspired by the work we were doing in preparation for our speaker, Christian Picciolini, as well as inspiration we got from hearing scholar Deborah Lipstadt speak about the growth of online hate during a USHMM event, and the ADL H.E.A.T. Map.

You can also visit our section on Combatting Hate Today.

Hate on College Campuses

In 2022, we compiled quotes from recent DHS alumni relating hate incidents on their college campuses.

Our 2021 website's page on hate incidents in the USA also included incidents of hate on college campuses.

In 2021, in preparation for hosting Christian Picciolini as a speaker, we researched the rising incidents of hate on college campuses and in the greater society. You can see some details of our work under the "Hate in the USA" section of our History Unfolding page.

Unfortunately, there continues to be a rise in hate incidents in the United States, and —alarmingly— in our own state of Illinois. In fact, in March 2023, Patch reported that "The FBI Crime Report Shows 101 Incidents in Illinois" and in early April 2023, Fox reported that a young man was arrested for plotting to attack mosques in the Chicago area.  We offer some resources to help inform you.  Some of these resources will also be displayed in the front hall in 2023.

• the ADL H.E.A.T. Map is an interactive map that we will have on display in the front lobby in 2023
• Stop AAPI Hate's news section includes sources related to hate incidents targeting Asian American and Pacific Islanders
• the ADL Tracker and its social media component (linked there) can help you keep up with antisemitic incidents
• ProPublica has a map and data from 2017 showing "where hate crimes do not get reported"
• UCLA has a new site "Mapping Hate Crimes in the US" and you can read about that project at the UCLA Newsroom
• PBS story with a map from 2019 on the rise in hate crimes
• Facing History and Ourselves has an Explainer on Antisemitism and Its Impacts and an Explainer on Islamophobia

Here is a summary of some key points:

• 8 states/territories of the US don’t have hate crime laws and don’t require data collection on them.
• 1 state does not have hate crime laws and requires data collection on hate crimes
• 17 states/territories of the US have hate crime laws and don’t require data collection on these crimes
• 25 states do have hate crimes laws and require data to be collected on hate crimes
• Hate crimes against Muslims are growing in New Zealand
• Support for anti-immigrant leaders in Europe is growing

College Campus Hate

Since 2020, we have compiled quotes from recent DHS alumni about hate incidents on their college campuses. 

You might also be interested in the Office of Civil Rights Shared Ancestry page/guide for schools.

Combatting Hate 

Stop AAPI Hate

Stop AAPI Hate is a website that collects stories of hate targeting Asian American and Pacific Islander people; it also teaches people how to protect themselves and others from such attacks.

US Government Combats Antisemitism on a National and International Scale

The US Department of State has worked with many scholarly agencies and individuals in the US and around the world to define antisemitism. It now has a Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, first headed by a preeminent scholar, Deborah Lipstadt.   

There are other definitions of antisemitism and calls by some international organizations to use one of the other definitions. You can find information in this article.

Taking White Supremacy to Court

In March of 2022, the IL Holocaust Museum hosted lawyers from Integrity First for America who mounted the successful legal case against white supremacists who violently protested in Charlottesville, VA, in 2017. You can view the recording of their presentation to the Museum.

In the follow-up to the event, the Museum sent these messages:

• Want to know more about Integrity First for America’s ongoing legal efforts? Visit their website at www.integrityfirstforamerica.org to see updates on current cases, or dive deeper into the Charlottesville lawsuit and trial with IFA’s case documents and transcripts.
• If you’re interested in partnering with IFA on a virtual program, please email contact@integrityfirstforamerica.org.

ADL - Anti-Defamation League

Visit the ADL's Fighting Antisemitism page. See also the State Department's definition of antisemitism. 

In the past, District 113 worked in collaboration with the ADL on the Peer Influencers program, which includes these two resources (among many others): the Pyramid of Hate and Understanding and Addressing Online Cruelty

IL Combats Hate Crimes

You can learn more about hate crimes in IL, report a hate crime, and follow the work of this commission by going to the website of the IL Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes.

You can also visit the Hate Crimes page of the IL Attorney General.

Other issues and organizations

The IL Holocaust Museum and Education Center issued a warning titled "LGBTQ+ Kids Are Under Attack" and suggested that people "Access Human Rights Campaign’s page on the Equality Act, which allows people to fill out a form to send to their senators." You can also learn more and take action at the GLSEN website.

Use the links below to learn about ways you can take action.

• ADL: Take Action The ADL (Anti-Defamation League) is a non-governmental organization that uses comprehensive approaches to fighting hate and securing justice, including countering cyberhate, anti-bias education and law enforcement training. They have many informative resources and training programs that help in the fight against Anti-Semitism, Racism, and hate in all forms.
• NAPAWF Take Action  The NAPAWF (National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum) works to build a movement for social, political, and structural change for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls. They work to create a safer, more just world for Asian Pacific American Women and their communities and have resources for you to help them reach their goals.
• UHRP Take Action The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) promotes the rights of the Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim peoples in East Turkistan (referred to by the Chinese government as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) through research-based advocacy.
• Support LGBTQ+ Rights and the passage of the Equality Act in the United States Congress: 
  • Read about the Equality Act at the Human Rights Campaign website.
  • GLSEN Take Action
• Check the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition Advocacy page for information.  In the past, we urged our elected officials to support a bill to establish a Truth and Healing Commission. Rep. Brad Schneider sent a letter in response to our plea from 2022, and he supported the bill, as did Sen. Dick Durbin.

• You can also simply call or contact your elected officials simply to express your concerns, to thank them for their leadership and support, or to ask them to take a particular action.  For example, in January 2023, the IL Holocaust Museum sent us an alert and a call for action concerning a red flag for genocide in Artsakh, Azerbaijan.  In response, Rep. Schneider cosponsored H.Res.108.

  • Senator Durbin 202.224.2152 (or submit letter online)

  • Senator Duckworth (202) 224-2854 (or submit letter online)

  • Rep. Schneider (202) 225-0837 (or submit letter online) 

Learn How To Be An Upstander

The image above is four steps from Learning for Justice from their Speak Up At School guide.

Check out these resources as well:

• the 5 D's of Bystander Intervention from Right To Be
• Bystander Intervention Trainings from Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ)

Advice from Holocaust Survivors

The above YouTube clip is from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. In it, Holocaust survivors who volunteer at the Museum remind us of our responsibility in the face of hate. Closed-captioning on YouTube is enabled for this clip.