In Elie Wiesel’s address to the German Bundestage on Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2000 he says, “I am not sure that I have the answer to the Holocaust, but surerly education is major component of that answer. So emphasize education so that the children who want to know, are able to know,” (Wiesel, 23). Fifteen years since Wiesel’s address, Germany continues to see the importance of Holocaust education, and more recently have increasingly recognized the need for improvements as problems of ignorance, xenophobia, and violence have become more prevalent in German society. Alarming studies of German adolescents like that of Silbermann and Stofferes (2000) concluded that young people’s knowledge about NS “approaches zero”. Although this study was
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However the programs really only fostered a culture of silence in West Germany and a culture who pushed history of the Holocaust aside in order to adopt communism.in East Germany. It wasn’t until 1968 when a large movement of students in West Germany who demanded dialogue with their parents about what had happened during the War and their participation in the Holocaust, which pushed the Holocaust into the private sphere. According to the article published by “Humanity in Action”, true Holocaust education commenced in Germany after the premiere of the American TV miniseries “Holocaust” in 1979 which pushed the acknowledgement of the Holocaust and discussion of collective memory into the public sphere (Bunch, Canfield, …show more content…
Education policy is coordinated on a national level by standing conference and by the Ministries of Education and Cultural Affairs which issue specific guidelines about teaching the Holocaust; however, they do not establish lessons plans and thus teaching of the Holocaust differs per region, per school, and even per classroom. According to a 2007 report done by the International Task Force for Holocaust Education, in Germany the Holocaust can be taught as early as the age of 10, but in the majority of schools all students will be formally presented with the history of National Socialism in the context of 20th century history at the age of 14 or 15 (grades 9-10). Looking only at Holocaust education in the context of history lessons, there are typically 16-20 lessons dedicated to the National Socialist time period in history which equates to about 8-10 hours in total spent in class discussing the time period. This is relatively small amount of time spent learning the material, especially if the student does not attend Gymnasium since students who pass the Abitur exam will receive a more formal presentation of German history in the twentieth century again during their final two years of schooling (12th and 13th grade). Although it is rare that a student will only be taught about the Holocaust during these 8-10 hours, as the Holocaust is often taught in many other disciplines such as
However the programs really only fostered a culture of silence in West Germany and a culture who pushed history of the Holocaust aside in order to adopt communism.in East Germany. It wasn’t until 1968 when a large movement of students in West Germany who demanded dialogue with their parents about what had happened during the War and their participation in the Holocaust, which pushed the Holocaust into the private sphere. According to the article published by “Humanity in Action”, true Holocaust education commenced in Germany after the premiere of the American TV miniseries “Holocaust” in 1979 which pushed the acknowledgement of the Holocaust and discussion of collective memory into the public sphere (Bunch, Canfield, …show more content…
Education policy is coordinated on a national level by standing conference and by the Ministries of Education and Cultural Affairs which issue specific guidelines about teaching the Holocaust; however, they do not establish lessons plans and thus teaching of the Holocaust differs per region, per school, and even per classroom. According to a 2007 report done by the International Task Force for Holocaust Education, in Germany the Holocaust can be taught as early as the age of 10, but in the majority of schools all students will be formally presented with the history of National Socialism in the context of 20th century history at the age of 14 or 15 (grades 9-10). Looking only at Holocaust education in the context of history lessons, there are typically 16-20 lessons dedicated to the National Socialist time period in history which equates to about 8-10 hours in total spent in class discussing the time period. This is relatively small amount of time spent learning the material, especially if the student does not attend Gymnasium since students who pass the Abitur exam will receive a more formal presentation of German history in the twentieth century again during their final two years of schooling (12th and 13th grade). Although it is rare that a student will only be taught about the Holocaust during these 8-10 hours, as the Holocaust is often taught in many other disciplines such as