 | | | | by Louise Fahey |
Along with all primary and secondary school teachers in Britain, I have been invited by UK secretary of state for education David Blunkett to organise activities preceding the Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January 2001.
| This initiative has no doubt been met with approval by many involved in education. The Holocaust plays a fairly large role in UK education already; it appears in most history and religious studies schemes of work. But as politicians and educationalists search for a universal message for the new millennium, the emphasis on teaching the Holocaust seems likely to grow - for many of the wrong reasons.
| Citizenship classes are now formally part of the school curriculum, and the onus is on schools and all teachers to demonstrate their commitment to the teaching of democratic values. In this context, the Holocaust has become a motif for everything that can go wrong when democracy fails and apathy reigns. It can be called upon at any time when a lesson in citizenship is required. And it can be used to arouse feelings of guilt without the inconvenience of having to teach anything about the facts of the Second World War.
| This is clear from the tone of the education pack recently sent out to schools by the Holocaust Memorial Day Education Working Group. The nature of the Holocaust means that it would almost be unheard of for a teacher to question the validity of the claims made in this education pack. But when the pack is looked at more closely, from an historical point of view, its content is fairly dubious. It seems that the purpose of this pack is not to explain, but to exhort.
| One of the most striking aspects of the pack is the call upon teachers to get their pupils to 'reflect' on the events and significance of the Holocaust. There are a number of suggested 'reflections' or themes for assemblies: 'being different'; 'being in a foreign country without a family'; 'individual responsibility'; 'remembrance'; and 'Britain and the Holocaust'. Although each of the themes contains some description of the Jewish experience of Nazi Germany and occupation, the overriding message has little to do with the Holocaust itself.
| The aim of these pupil 'reflections' is, as the introduction declares, to 'raise awareness and understanding of the Holocaust as an issue for all humanity, based on a recognition that such events could happen again anywhere and at any time unless we ensure that our society is vigilant in opposing racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry' (1).
The implication is that, in reminding ourselves of the atrocities committed against the Jews, we remind ourselves to be tolerant and democratic. After all, we too have the capacity for racial hatred and persecution, even annihilation: 'We need to understand that human suffering on that scale was only possible because human beings, like ourselves, deliberately chose to inflict evil on others.' (2)
Alongside these menacing words is a call for self-sacrifice, in order that democracy should prevail: 'Too many people in Germany in the early 1930s were prepared to vote for Hitler because of what he promised for the majority at the expense of the minority. They let his plans for prosperity obscure the threat of persecution.' (3) Finally, we are warned against apathy and peer pressure, because the desire to fit in or not to get involved has dangerous consequences.
| | There is no doubt that this set of resources will be widely used in schools in the week preceding the memorial service in Westminster. The Holocaust is an issue on which everybody morally agrees. But now it is seen as an issue that can be used to stir the nation's youth out of its apathy. Little explanation is offered, as it is more important that children understand that intolerance and inaction can lead to the most inhumane actions against minorities. By remembering the Holocaust we are fighting the evil within and purging ourselves of feelings of intolerance. We are, like missionaries, preparing ourselves to do battle against bigotry: 'We are all individually responsible to ensure that we are active citizens and do not stand by while others are being victimised or persecuted.' (4)
| It seems that the education secretary and the Holocaust Memorial Day Education Working Group are bestowing on children a responsibility of evangelical proportions. This series of reflections has more in common with religion than with history or politics. Lifting the Holocaust out of its historical context in an attempt to invigorate children's interest in the political process is, ultimately, a cheap shot. Sanctimonious teachers everywhere desperate for a good assembly theme will lap this up. When morning prayer is not practised in most schools these days, the Holocaust can be used to inspire a feeling of religiosity and fellowship, as well as the old-fashioned Christian virtue of guilt.
| This gets to the heart of how history, and the Holocaust in particular, are approached in education today. History is not seen as a way of understanding past events through a process of intellectual engagement. It is a vehicle through which to teach children how to behave and how to feel about themselves and others. In many aspects of education, the importance of feelings seems to be superseding the importance of reason - unless children are touched by something then it is assumed that they will not respond, and worse still, they will not have learned how to behave in a civilised manner.
| As a history teacher, I can leave out the difficult bits of history if I want to and spend my time asking children to imagine how people were feeling or to draw moral lessons from different situations. This supposedly makes history more meaningful. But how will making the Holocaust an 'issue' to be sermonised improve children's understanding of what it means?
| Undoubtedly, the Holocaust continues to be an important part of historical inquiry and debate. Children need to study it in the context of the Second World War and with a degree of objectivity. This is something that history teachers help children to develop. Intellectually challenging history lessons are the place for discussions on the Holocaust, not pious or politically charged sermons.
Read on:
The 'second generation' of Holocaust survivors, by Frank Furedi
I'm right because...you're a Nazi, by Josie Appleton
spiked-issue: The Holocaust
(1) Remembering Genocides - Lessons For The Future, Holocaust Memorial Day Education Working Group, 2000, p4
(2) Remembering Genocides - Lessons For The Future, Holocaust Memorial Day Education Working Group, 2000, p10
(3) Remembering Genocides - Lessons For The Future, Holocaust Memorial Day Education Working Group, 2000, p21
(4) Remembering Genocides - Lessons For The Future, Holocaust Memorial Day Education Working Group, 2000, p21
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