How Did the World Respond to the Holocaust?

When we talk about the Holocaust, we often focus on what happened in Nazi-occupied Europe: the ghettos, the camps, the mass killings. There’s another dimension: how the rest of the world responded to the Holocaust while it was happening.

This video explores a difficult truth: information about Nazi persecution wasn’t hidden. Reports crossed borders, diplomats cabled home, journalists filed stories. Yet this story is defined as much by what didn’t happen. Governments hesitated, newspapers buried the truth, and borders stayed closed. The world knew more than it acted upon. This isn’t just history; it’s about understanding how societies respond (or fail to respond) to mass atrocity, and what that means for us today.

How to use this guide
This guide is designed to enhance your students’ engagement with the video, “How Did the World Respond to the Holocaust?”. You can pause at the suggested points to explore key concepts through discussion, or show the entire video without breaks and use the discussion questions and activities at the end of the guide for a comprehensive post-viewing discussion. Alternatively, you can utilize a flipped classroom approach, assigning the video for students to watch at home, and then using class time to unpack ideas together.