THE ASSIGNMENT by Liza Weimer has echoes of The Wave, the famous real-life story in which a history teacher started a Nazilike cult as a demonstration, but for a new generation. It also resonates with stories like Dear White People, which emphasize how blindness to racist activities easily get out of hand. As such, it’s a valuable teaching tool for students and instructors alike. 

“Are we supposed to pretend we’re Nazis?” the book opens, as appalled student Logan considers their assignment. Indeed, the teens are all supposed to pretend they’re at the Wannsee Conference, debating pros and cons of the Final Solution. Some of the students are instantly disgusted: There is no pro-genocide moral position, and no decent person should argue it. No assignment should allow for the possibility that the Nazis were right or normalize their ideology. Other students in the room are already snickering and sketching Nazi symbols. The teacher insists that the lesson has historical merit and that he in no way encourages students to believe in Nazi ideology. With this, the conflict is established. 

Best friends Logan and Cade complain to the teacher, then the principal. The teacher counters them by agreeing that the assignment is immoral but insisting the school is a safe place to learn to combat racism. As he adds “You find genocide offensive? Good! This assignment should make you uncomfortable. Life is often uncomfortable” (59). However, Cade protests that the assignment fuels intolerance. As the football players joke with Nazi salutes, he can see what the teacher cannot. There are no Jews at the school, but the gay kid in the class is shrinking into himself in torment.  Chapters begin with mostly Logan and Cade’s point of view and expand outward until their teacher is finally sharing his own perspective. Other students are traumatized by the discrimination the assignment provokes and get a chance to tell their stories. 

The principal too dismisses their concerns, considering the assignment reasonable and their protests an overstepping of their position as students. As the authorities dismiss student concerns instead of acknowledging that the assignment is getting out of hand, community anger snowballs and the teachers find they can no longer contain it. Many modern genocides and moments of discrimination are mentioned, emphasizing the universal threat of condoning racism. There’s a lesson here in understanding that minorities often have a different awareness of what is harmful that those in authority don’t see. Listening is the key to ending the harm. 

The conflict is also made personal: Logan recalls a beloved Jewish neighbor, while Cade thinks of his grandfather, who risked his life to save a neighbor in Poland. As he soon discovers, the family story is more complicated and affects him deeply. Further, Logan takes Cade to the Fort Ontario Safe Haven Museum to learn about Italian refugees who came over postwar. With a polished presentation and writeup, the teens politely propose this story as an alternate assignment. Still, few students decline the original debate. Frustrated, the teens take their concern to the anti-discrimination organization Humanity for Peace and Justice, and their representative, when ignored, speaks to the newspapers. The story goes viral, with a spectrum of comments reproduced in the book. As such, it models how to respond to such assignments, on large and small levels. The book ends with an overview of the real-life incident that provoked this book, resources, and discussion questions. In a world where so many questionable assignments are being forced on students, lacking consideration of how teens will feel defending slavery or colonialism, everyone should read this. 

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