Holocaust education: global forces shaping curricula integration and implementation

Abstract

The article provides a critical review of the global scholarship on Holocaust education (HE). Despite the growing body of work on this topic, a search through major academic databases by the authors revealed that no such review of the research literature has been published as of yet. The review focuses on three main themes across the research literature: (1) the emergence of HE in (national) school curricula; (2) the relationship between Holocaust memorialization and education; and (3) the potential of HE for teaching about xenophobia, racism, and human rights more broadly. Moreover, the authors offer a rhizomatic framework for consideration, and expand on the numerous factors that have complicated the emergence and integration of HE into school curricula globally: (a) involvement and role of nations with the Holocaust; (b) forms of governance in the years following the Holocaust; (c) societal desire to 'forget' the horrors of war and return to the routine of normalcy; (d) particular nations' history of antiSemitism; and (e) pedagogical tension around rationale for teaching about the Holocaust. The article also discusses more recent political considerations, such as a nation's relationship with the State of Israel.

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“…I Norge har vi hatt flere studier og debatter de siste årene om hvilken rolle nordmenn spilte i gjennomføringen av Holocaust her til lands (Michelet, 2018(Michelet, , 2021Berggren, Bruland & Tangestuen, 2020;Søbye, 2021;Corell, 2021). I de fleste land i Vesten har også Holocaust siden årtusenskiftet fått en fremtredende plass i skolenes laereplaner (Davis & Rubinstein-Avila, 2013). Holocaust har i undervisningssammenheng ofte ikke blitt behandlet som en historisk hendelse alene, men har i ulike laereplaner blitt knyttet til spørsmål om medborgerskap, rasisme, diskriminering og demokrati (Davis & Rubinstein-Avila, 2013).…”

“…I de fleste land i Vesten har også Holocaust siden årtusenskiftet fått en fremtredende plass i skolenes laereplaner (Davis & Rubinstein-Avila, 2013). Holocaust har i undervisningssammenheng ofte ikke blitt behandlet som en historisk hendelse alene, men har i ulike laereplaner blitt knyttet til spørsmål om medborgerskap, rasisme, diskriminering og demokrati (Davis & Rubinstein-Avila, 2013). I den gjeldende norske laereplanen i samfunnsfag gjøres også en slik kobling.…”

As the Witnesses Fall Silent: 21st Century Holocaust Education in Curriculum, Policy and Practice

“…In federal education systems, for example, curricular contents differ from one state, province, or canton to another. In Switzerland, education about the Holocaust is obligatory but not contained in the curricula of all regions and cantons because, as Davis and Rubinstein-Avila ( 2013 ) suggest, no constraints on how this event should be taught are imposed in the face of a complex national story. In Switzerland, Jews were partially accepted as refugees, but also partly turned away at the border, and banks collaborated with the Nazi regime.…”

“The Perception of Visiting Holocaust Sites on Undergraduate Students Learning Process”

“…Other sites include the Jewish History Museum of Prague, which houses the "Lost Neighbours" project. This project aims to encourage students to examine the long history of Jewish communities in Europe (Davis & Rubinstein-Avila, 2013). In addition, the 1990s saw the establishment of the intergovernmental body, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), with the aim to bring together the support of political and social leaders to promote the need for Holocaust education and remembrance.…”

“…Similar reports have been found in other European nations such as Germany, France and the USA. This would suggest that despite the efforts by European governments to educate the public about the Holocaust, such as promoting Holocaust Memorial Day and the development of education such as the Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) Education pack in the UK (Davis & Rubinstein-Avila, 2013), anti-Semitism is a still a prominent part of society.…”