Hitler and Stalin, Literature Requirements in the Educational System

[ada_byron]

I've often wondered why it is that so many students hear about the evils Hitler committed and never hear much about Stalin

Comments

[curetpillargirl]

I can't speak for all teachers, but I try to have the students read a lot of Spanish/Mexican? Hispanic literature in translation and in original (most of them can understand it). I think it's very important for them to realize not all lit is dead white guys from New England.
I can't do Southern Goth in high school. While I was student teaching, the AP kids tried reading As I Lay Dying and it just did NOT work (master teacher's idea, not mine--I wasn't in charge of them). In college we read A Good Man is Hard to Find--college kids and most of them died. They were all supposedly English majors too. I liked it, but then, I'm an anomaly.

[ada_byron]

I'm glad some teachers are thinking about that sort of thing. Too many want to gloss over everything and teach all those old dead guys. :P

That's really cool that you're teaching O'Connor as well! Anyone who can't read it is just well...I mean if they're supposedly English majors then I hate it for them when they get into more complicated works.

[kaiwhakamarie]

Interesting ideas/questions you've brought up

[kaiwhakamarie]

My brain isn't working...I meant to put 'Tom Sawyer' in quotations, not 'Mark Twain'. Doy.

[jacquic79]

I am probably going to be flamed through the roof for this comment. And no I am NOT a nazi. But... I think it also has to do with who our current alies are. I say this because to read what we are taught about the holocaust you would think it was just the Jewish people who were persecuted. Now I am not saying that they weren't... but the Roma and Sinti Gypsies were exterminated on mass as well. And most of Eastern Europe was on the slate, as well as the Russians. I just find it a little odd that there is all this uproar about the Jews and nothing at all about the other minorities persecuted by the nazis.

[kaiwhakamarie]

You won't be flamed by me! I agree with you! And I think most Jews would too...it does seem strange that the suffering these other 'groups' went through in the Holocaust seem to sort of take a backseat. Part of me wants to say it's because of the sheer numbers of Jews that were killed, but I think it's more than that...of course lets not forget that homosexuals were also persecuted in the holocaust!

[nishar]

It is all about the slaughter of the Jews. Stalin didn't kill that many and Hitler did.

[ada_byron]

But do you think that's why he's been more demonized than Stalin when both killed and committed atrocities?

[nishar]

Yes Hitler has. Both Stalin and Hitler were very evil men who had millions killed. Stalin made sure over 20 million people died in the Ukraine alone from starvation! Hitler didn't have any where near that number of civilians die!

[ovadatop]

For an interesting read: "Gulag. A History" by Anne Applebaum.

[ada_byron]

Cool, I'll definitely remember that. :)