Holocaust education is efforts, in either formal or informal settings, to teach about the Holocaust. Teaching and learning about the Holocaust addresses didactics and learning, under the larger umbrella of education about the Holocaust, which also comprises curricula and textbooks studies. The expression "Teaching and Learning about the Holocaust" is used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. While most Holocaust education centers have focused on the genocide committed against Jews by the Nazis, a growing number have expanded their mission and programming to include the murder of other groups by the Nazi and Stalinist regimes, the Armenian genocide, the Rwandan genocide, Kurdish genocide, Croatia–Serbia genocide case, Bosnian genocide, indigenous genocide due to colonization, and other mass exterminations. These centers also address racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia, and transphobia. Holocaust education is based on the premise that it reduces the level of racism and intolerance, but there is a lack of evidence to support this position.
Lessons of the Holocaust
It is debated whether there are moral, ethical, or political lessons to be learned from the Holocaust, and if so what they are. In contemporary discourse, there are many references to proposed lessons to be learned from the Holocaust, which are less common in the work of Holocaust scholars. In his 2016 book of the same title, Michael Marrus classifies the lessons drawn from the Holocaust into the categories of early, Jewish, Israeli, and universal lessons. The authors of a book on Holocaust education separate the lessons into deontological, consequentialist, and ontological lessons. Political scientist Ian Lustick classifies responses to the Holocaust by Israeli Jews into four categories: the Holocaust as a "Zionist Proof-text; Wasting Asset; Object Lesson for safeguarding human rights; and Template for Jewish life". He argues that the last has become hegemonic since the 1980s and that the consequences of seeing enemies as Nazis and threats as existential are damaging to Israel. The existence of specific lessons to be learned from the Holocaust is cited as a justification for Holocaust education, but challenged by some critics. There is a tension between the argument that the Holocaust was a unique event in history and that it has lessons that could be applied to other situations.
Contexts for teaching about the Holocaust Multiple opportunities exist for teaching about the Holocaust. The text that follows explores the role that teaching and learning about the Holocaust can play in three specific contexts: the prevention of genocide, the promotion of human rights and dealing with traumatic pasts.
Prevention of genocide To teach about the particularity of the Holocaust is an opportunity to teach about the nature and dynamics of mass atrocity crimes, i.e. genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The United Nations Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes states "atrocity crimes are considered to be the most serious crimes against humankind. Their status as international crimes is based on the belief that the acts associated with them affect the core dignity of human beings." From a human perspective, but also from social, political and economic perspectives, the costs and consequences of these crimes are immeasurable and extend far beyond the limits of territories where they were perpetrated. Prevention has, therefore, been identified by the international community as a necessity for international peace and stability. Prevention requires continuous efforts and awareness in both the short and long term at the local, national and global levels. Such measures may include institutional initiatives that strengthen the rule of law and protect human rights, ensure a better management of diverse societies and reinforce civil society and independent media. Education about the Holocaust, as well as education more broadly about genocide and mass atrocities, provides the opportunity to help build critical thinking skills, to augment resilient and effective responses to extreme and exclusionary ideologies, and to illuminate for students how they see themselves in the context of their country's past, present and future.
Promotion of human rights The Holocaust began with abuses of power and gross human rights violations by Nazi Germany that over time escalated into war and genocide. While not all human rights violations result in genocide, the Holocaust presents an important case to be explored in a human rights context. The discriminatory policies and practices that dehumanized and marginalized Jews and other minority or political groups (such as depriving individuals of their citizenship) illuminate how human rights violations when combined with factors such as the abuse of power and/or exclusionary ideology can become normalized in a society – even one framed by the rule of law. That these policies escalated over time to a state-sponsored system for murder underlines the dangerous environment that can result when human rights are disavowed. In the aftermath of the Second World War and the Holocaust, a number of international norms promoting human rights were formulated, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. Examining this outcome represents a crucial phase in understanding the evolution of human rights concepts. Still, education about the Holocaust and human rights education are two distinct fields. How educators can create the space for students to examine the history in a manner that respects the tenets of each field requires some thought. A number of organizations have considered these points of intersection, including the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), in partnership with Yad Vashem, and the German Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" (EVZ). Thoughtfully integrating examination of the Holocaust into a human rights framework can be an important dimension of education that promotes critical thinking about the roles and responsibilities of members of society and their leaders in the context of human rights.
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