New York, NY, May 19, 2005 … To educate students about Giovanni Palatucci and other righteous heroes of the Holocaust, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is making available a new lesson plan for middle and high school educators to enable students to learn about his life and other rescuers who faced grave personal dangers to save thousands of Jewish lives.

The May 2005 edition of ADL's Curriculum Connections for eighth through tenth graders is intended to teach young people about the heroic actions of Palatucci. As Chief of Police of Fiume, Italy, he saved the lives of thousands of Jews destined for Nazi death camps by issuing forged documents and visas. Arrested in September 1944, he was accused of conspiracy and deported to Dachau, where he died at age 36 before the camp was liberated.

"This season's Curriculum Connections is especially timely because February marked the 60th anniversary of Giovanni Palatucci's death in Dachau," said Ed Alster, ADL Director of Education. "Palatucci, and other righteous heroes of the Holocaust serve as an example for students and teach them at a young age to stand up against bigotry in their schools, communities and beyond."

Students will learn about Palatucci's life through a biographical study and will conduct independent research on the lives of four additional Holocaust survivors. They will analyze acts of intervention and rescue and reasons for altruistic responsiveness to acts of genocide during the Holocaust. They will also create a memorial of everyday heroes in their lives that display courage and commitment to stand up for others.

Curriculum Connections is a series of online teaching resources developed by ADL to help elementary, middle and high school educators integrate multicultural, anti-bias and social justice themes into their lesson plans. Each issue is organized around a particular topic or theme and each new edition is made available online three to four times per school year. The Spring 2005 edition of Curriculum Connections introduced the concept of "Never Again"-what the world has done to achieve this ideal and why these efforts have fallen short of averting genocides in places such as Rwanda and the Darfur region of Sudan.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.