Education About The Holocaust And Preventing Genocide

Abstract

Our rapidly changing, globalized world creates an urgency to ensure that education is helping young people become responsible global citizens. To play a role in shaping the future, young people must have a better understanding of the past. An understanding of history can support efforts to create free and just societies. Such examination is required not only for our greatest achievements - but for our failures as well. The Holocaust was a watershed event in relatively recent history whose legacies still shape our world and whose lessons are relevant to the challenges we face today. To this end, in line with initiatives supported by the United Nations and UNESCO, this guide aims to help key actors in the world’s education systems implement effective education about the Holocaust and genocide as well as mass atrocities by discussing approaches for integrating this education into various environments. Understanding how and why the Holocaust occurred can inform broader understandings of mass violence globally, as well as highlight the value of promoting human rights, ethics, and civic engagement that bolsters human solidarity at the local, national, and global levels. Examination of the systematic persecution and murder of Europe’s Jews raises questions about human behaviour and our capacity to succumb to scapegoating or simple answers to complex problems in the face of vexing societal challenges. The Holocaust illustrates the dangers of unchecked prejudice, discrimination, antisemitism and dehumanization. It also reveals the full range of human responses - thereby raising important considerations about societal and individual motivations and pressures that lead people to act as they do - or to not act at all. Multiple opportunities exist for teaching about the Holocaust. Working to prevent future genocides, for example, requires an understanding about how these events occur, including considerations about warning signs and human behaviours that make genocide and mass atrocities possible. Long before it became a genocide, the Holocaust began with abuses of power and what today would be called gross human rights violations. While most human rights violations do not result in genocide, the Holocaust presents an important case to be explored in a human rights context. Furthermore, the Holocaust and genocide and mass atrocities are topics that demonstrate the ways in which past events can continue to affect the present. Providing learners with tools for critical inquiry that enable an understanding of how human rights violations happen is essential for countering future offences - and can even lead to important conversations about contentious aspects of their own communities’ past. While education about the Holocaust is distinct from “genocide education” which addresses the trends and patterns of genocide and mass atrocities more broadly, the fields are interconnected. Policymakers can encourage the teaching of several cases of genocide that respect the historical integrity of each event, promote sound analysis of genocidal situations that differ from non-genocidal situations, and consider and utilize clear applications of defining terms to frame the studies. Analysing how the Holocaust happened creates multiple opportunities for learners to reflect on their role as global citizens. Thus, strong opportunities also exist for aligning education about the Holocaust with the goals of Global Citizenship Education (GCED). GCED is a pillar of the Education 2030 Agenda and Framework for Action, 1 notably Target 4.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals2 on Education, which seeks to develop students to be informed and critically literate, socially connected, respectful of diversity, and ethically responsible and engaged. Because every country or education system has its distinct context and capacity (institutional, financial, and human), implementation agendas will vary. While teaching and learning about the Holocaust in formal settings most often occurs in history classes, education about the Holocaust can be and is integrated across subjects such as civics and citizenship, social studies, literature, law, philosophy, religion, science, music, and the arts. Additionally, interdisciplinary approaches can be quite enriching for learners. To maximize learning, the topic is best covered in an age-appropriate manner that scaffolds the content and skills to address more complex themes while reinforcing key concepts as learners progress through their education. In any teaching, it is paramount that the Holocaust – or any other historical case of genocide – be taught in a way that learners can examine the complexity of unique historical factors that facilitated the onset of atrocity. Policy-makers can help to ensure educators are supported with accurate sources of information (such as textbooks with historically accurate content) and reliable methodologies (such as those suggested in this guide) accessed through professional development opportunities made available to pre- and in-service teachers. Given the interconnectedness of these factors, open and collaborative dialogue between policymakers, textbook authors, school leaders and educators nationally and internationally is important to help ensure the quality of education about the Holocaust on the level of curriculum, textbooks, and classroom practice. Non-formal educational organizations can supplement the work of schools. Many such organizations provide direct interventions in classrooms, conduct teacher training, produce teaching and learning materials, or host study trips to museums, memorials and historic sites. International days of commemoration - such as the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust (27 January)3 and the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime (9 December)4 - can also provide opportunities to engage learners outside the classroom: participation in ceremonies, special school projects in the context of a larger classroom programme, activities organized with local authorities and external stakeholders. No commemorative event should be considered a substitute for an education programme. A strong Holocaust education programme will include a plan to assess the practices, materials, and experiences of those involved both at the level of the learner and more broadly within the school and community. Assessment plans do not necessarily have to be comprehensive research studies or national surveys, but there should be an attempt made to evaluate when and how programmes were carried out and their impact on those involved. Examination of this history can prompt students to understand how the Holocaust happened, reflect on their role in society, navigate moral dilemmas, accept a civic duty to their fellow citizens of the world, and act. The powerful potential of this education inspired the creation of this document.