We have a Holocaust museum in our city connected to the main Synagogue. At some point I'd like to take my daughter to visit the exhibition to help introduce her and explain what happened during this terrible period of history. She is nearly 9 years old. The exhibition includes artefacts, memorabilia and many photos but no gruesome images.
We are quite historically minded as a family so she is aware of things like both World Wars, the Space Race and the Cold War, though obviously a child's mind interprets things differently to adults. We have explained the WWII and how evil the Nazis were; something she initially came to understand via (of all things) multiple viewings of the Sound of Music DVD; a film which she adores. Though she knows that Nazis are "bad", to this point we have avoided all discussions about the holocaust. It is a big jump to go from a story about Nazis trying to force Captain von Trapp to join the German Navy after the Anschluss, to the reality of what happened to Jews and other minority groups in Europe from the early 1930s to the mid-1940s.
I don't want to shatter a child's innocence, yet feel it is important as a parent that she becomes aware of these events and their impact on history.
What do you think is an appropriate age to introduce this topic to a child? Should I perhaps wait for her to come to me asking about it; or should I pre-empt self-discovery?
We are quite historically minded as a family so she is aware of things like both World Wars, the Space Race and the Cold War, though obviously a child's mind interprets things differently to adults. We have explained the WWII and how evil the Nazis were; something she initially came to understand via (of all things) multiple viewings of the Sound of Music DVD; a film which she adores. Though she knows that Nazis are "bad", to this point we have avoided all discussions about the holocaust. It is a big jump to go from a story about Nazis trying to force Captain von Trapp to join the German Navy after the Anschluss, to the reality of what happened to Jews and other minority groups in Europe from the early 1930s to the mid-1940s.
I don't want to shatter a child's innocence, yet feel it is important as a parent that she becomes aware of these events and their impact on history.
What do you think is an appropriate age to introduce this topic to a child? Should I perhaps wait for her to come to me asking about it; or should I pre-empt self-discovery?