Holocaust knowledge and Holocaust education experiences predict citizenship values among US adults

College Student Reactions to Holocaust Education From the Perspective of the Theme of Complicity and Collaboration

“…Lindquist (2011) acknowledges, “Studying the Holocaust forces students to consider what it means to be human and humane by examining the full continuum of individual behavior, from ultimate evil to ultimate good ” (p. 26). International scholarship on Holocaust education similarly identifies that the lessons of this genocide can be a valuable vehicle for promotion of prosocial behaviors and moral development (Starratt et al, 2017).…”

“…In fact, depictions or narratives centered on the Holocaust are prominent in popular culture today. 1 Such realities perhaps give greater context to the declaration by Starratt et al (2017) that “learning about the Holocaust is a lifelong experience” (p. 188). This rightly highlights that Holocaust comprehension can grow over time, particularly regarding its complexity.…”

“…Holocaust scholars, for instance, identify that exposure during one’s K–12 education can set a foundation for comprehension. In the case of Starratt et al (2017), however, their work falls short of expanding on the role higher education can play in furthering insight. This is quite common with Holocaust education literature.…”

“…This suggests transformation, although the literature does not explicitly link Holocaust education with transformational learning theory per se. For instance, in their literature review on Holocaust education, of all the reported findings that Starratt et al (2017) note, transformation or other aspects of student growth that can be facilitated by this topic are not included in their overview. In fact, the most prominent study that explicitly fuses Holocaust education with transformation for its students was published in Radical Teacher , the earlier cited experience of prisoners who were exposed to the Holocaust (Pinkert et al, 2012).…”

Assessing the Impact of Holocaust Education on Adolescents’ Civic Values: Experimental Evidence from Arkansas

“…U.S. state legislators have proposed it as a means of reducing hate crimes (Ziv, 2017;Astor, 2018;Marcus, 2018). Descriptive longitudinal studies of Holocaust education find it to be associated with students' reduced racist perceptions of minority groups (Cowan & Maitles, 2005;2007) and positively associated with students' democratic and civic values (Carrington & Short, 1997;Starratt, Fredotovic, Goodletty, & Starratt, 2017). Others theorize that learning about the Holocaust can improve altruism (Tec, 1995), empathy (Jennings, 2010), and commitment (Shiman & Fernekes, 1999).…”