Alabama Social Studies SS24.HOS.18b

Social StudiesGrades 9–12The Final Solution

The Standard

SS24.HOS.18: Critique the responses considered by the Roosevelt administration and the United States military to the suffering of European Jews in the Holocaust.*

Explain the role of the United States military in liberating concentration camps.

2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies · The Final Solution

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students explain how U.S. soldiers encountered Nazi camps as they advanced through Germany and Austria. They describe what troops found, how they helped survivors, and how they recorded evidence.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can identify Dachau as a camp U.S. troops liberated on April 29, 1945. They can describe the troops' response and explain that Soviet forces, not U.S. forces, liberated Auschwitz.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think U.S. troops liberated Auschwitz, but Soviet forces did. They may also think survivors were safe and healthy as soon as the gates opened, though many still needed food and medical care.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Name one camp U.S. troops liberated, describe one action they took there, and name the army that liberated Auschwitz.

Lesson moves

Give pairs a 1945 Allied advance map and camp cards; have them place Dachau with U.S. forces and Auschwitz with Soviet forces.
Read a short USHMM account of Dachau's liberation; ask, "What could U.S. soldiers do immediately, and what care took longer?"
Run a card sort with camp names, liberating armies, and dates; students match Dachau and Auschwitz, then check a map.
Show a U.S. Army liberation photograph from the USHMM collection; students read its caption and write why museums keep such evidence.

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