How will these resources help you?

Teaching the Holocaust can be difficult. It will always require a careful and sensitive approach for many reasons. A minority of pupils may have extremist views, including anti-Semitism or outright Holocaust denial. Studying the small number of Muslim rescuers, who had the courage to rescue Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe or in the territories of Vichy France, introduces pupils to evidence that directly contradicts Holocaust denial. It also provides Muslim pupils with models of behaviour from fellow believers, who saw persecuted Jews simply as human beings whose lives were under threat – lives that were no less valuable because of their different religious views. Moreover, some pupils may have negative views of the Islamic faith, based on negative media portrayal and the actions of Islamic extremists. This topic shows the valuable contribution of Muslims in an often-whitewashed war, promoting interfaith cooperation and empathy.