“Our commitment must be to remember the victims who perished, respect the survivors still with us, and reaffirm humanity's common aspiration for mutual understanding and justice.”
-- Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust
“Our commitment must be to remember the victims who perished, respect the survivors still with us, and reaffirm humanity's common aspiration for mutual understanding and justice.”
-- Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust
There can be no single "correct" way of teaching any subject, no ideal methodology that is appropriate for all teachers and students. What is offered here are guidelines and advice that might prove useful to schoolteachers in constructing their own schemes of work, taking into account the learning needs of individual students. These guidelines draw on current best practice from a number of institutions with expertise in teaching the Holocaust to address some of the concerns teachers have about how to approach this very difficult subject and to present possible ways forward.
In general, teaching about the Holocaust should:
These aims can be clearly seen in the following definitions of the Holocaust:
The objective of teaching any subject is to engage the intellectual curiosity of students in order to inspire critical thought and personal growth. Therefore it is essential that educators consider questions of rationale whenever they approach any subject.
When educators take the time to consider the reasons for their lessons on the Holocaust, they will be more likely to select content that speaks to their students' interests and that provides a clearer understanding of a complex history.
Italian Minister of Education and Research Francesco Profumo came to Yad Vashem on 4 September on a visit intended to strengthen the agreement that was signed last year by Israeli Minister of Education Gideon Sa'ar and the Italian Ministry of Education.
Helsinki University Summer School's second Holocaust-related course, "Introduction to Holocaust and Genocide Studies," was held in Helsinki, Finland in August 2012.
Institutions in Canada marked Holocaust Education Week 2012 with a number of events.
The first Teacher's Manual about the Holocaust in Serbia was presented at the Belgrade International Book Fair on 25 October 2012.
The Danish Institute for International Studies has launched an English version of the educational website Theresienstadt.dk.