Holocaust Education Overview Practices En

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Human rights education atHolocaust memorial sites

across the European Union:An overview o practices

CITIZENS RIGHTS


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Hum h educ Hcu mem ec he Eue U:

An overview o practices


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Most European Union (EU) Member States have institutions whose task is to preserve the memory o the Holocaust andits victims. Many o these institutions oer educational programmes that extend beyond the Holocaust itsel and allowvisiting groups, particularly young people, to refect on contemporary human rights issues.

This publication aims to support such institutions, as well as educators, in identiying ways to achieve a more thoroughunderstanding o the Holocaust and o human rights ways in which the past can stimulate critical and sel-criticalrefection on the present.

It examines the role o memorial sites and museums, drawing on ndings rom the FRA projectDiscover the past or theuture A study on the role o historical sites and museums in Holocaust education and human rights education in the

EU. It is also based on interviews with representatives o selected memorial sites and museums.

The publication provides examples o the dierent ways in which memorial sites link the history o the Holocaust tohuman rights whether by means o educational programmes addressing human rights directly or by raising in a moregeneral way the issues o the dignity o human lie and equality o human beings.

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ForEworD .......................................................................................................................................................3

BaCKgroUnD ..................................................................................................................................................7

1 KnowlEDgE oF HoloCaUst History or awarEnEss oF HUMan rigHts or BotH? .................. 9

1.1. How Holocaust education can inspire human rights education ............................. ................................ .............. 91.2. Teacher, pupil and student views on Holocaust education and human rights education ............................. .. 111.3. Memorial sites and museums views on key actors or educational success ................................ .................. 13

2 issUEs oF ConCErn For HistoriCal sitEs anD MUsEUMs ..............................................................15

2.1. Authenticity: an asset or a risk? ............................ ................................. ................................. ............................. 152.2. Learning actively ............................. ................................. ................................. ................................ ........................ 172.3. Teaching on testimonials and social roles ............................... ................................. ................................ .............172.4. Guides ............................... ................................. ................................ ................................. ................................. .......19

3 EDUCational approaCHEs at sElECtED HistoriCal sitEs anD MUsEUMs ...................................... 21

3.1. The Anne Frank House, The Netherlands ................................ ................................. ................................ ............. 213.2. Buchenwald Memorial Site, Germany ................................ ................................. ................................. ..................233.3. Mmorial de la Shoah, France ............................. ................................. ................................. ................................ . 24

3.4. The UK Holocaust Centre, United Kingdom .............................. ................................. ................................ .............253.5. Memorial and Educational Centre Hartheim Castle, Austria ............................. ................................. ................. 263.6. The Living History Forum, Sweden ................................ ................................. ................................ ....................... 273.7. State Museum at Majdanek, Poland .............................. ................................. ................................ ....................... 283.8 Memorial and Educational Site House o the Wannsee Conerence, Germany .............................. ................. 30

4 points oF rEFErEnCE For tHE FUtUrE: CoopEration lEaDing to nEw pErspECtivEs .............31

annEx: list oF institUtions anD EU MEMBEr statEs .........................................................................33

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European Commission and the Terezn Memorial on19 and 20 October 2010, which was also reerred toin the Council Conclusions on the memory o crimescommitted by totalitarian regimes in Europe.

In close cooperation with dierent stakeholders,the FRA: acilitated meetings; conducted research;developed two practical manuals, one or teachersand another or policy makers and memorial sitesand museums; and put together an online toolkiton Holocaust and human rights education, the latter

in cooperation with the International Institute orHolocaust Research, Yad Vashem. These publications,as well as the network resulting rom this project,listed below, have acilitated dialogue among humanrights and Holocaust education practitioners.

Discover the past or the uture The role

o historical sites and museums in Holocaust

education and human rights education in the EU

Excursion to the past teaching or the uture:

Handbook or teachers on the Holocaust andhuman rights education

Human rights education at Holocaust memorial

sites across the European Union: An overview

o practices

Online toolkit on Holocaust and human rightseducation in the EU with practical guidance onmethodologies, and tips or educators on how todevelop teaching projects on the Holocaust andhuman rights

In 2008, marking 70 years rom the November 1938

Jewish pogroms in Germany, the European Union

Agency or Fundamental Rights (FRA) launched

a project to explore the links between Holocaust

education and human rights education, thereby

contributing to the urther development o educational

practices, particularly in relation to the educational work

at memorial sites and museums, as well as in schools.

For this project the FRA, which has an observer rolewithin the Task Force or International Cooperation

on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research(ITF), ollowed the ITF guidelines on the what, whyand how o teaching about the Holocaust.1 The FRAalso drew on the expertise and work o the Council oEurope, the United Nations (UN), the United NationsEducational, Scientic and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) and the Organization or Security andCo-operation in Europe (OSCE).2 This overview hasbeneted rom discussions with various educationalmuseum and memorial sites practitioners and policymakers at a conerence organised by the FRA, the

1 For more inormation on the work o the Task Force orInternational Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembranceand Research, see www.holocausttaskorce.org/

2 For more inormation on the work o the Council o Europe on theHolocaust education, see www.coe.int/t/dc/les/events/2010_holocauste/deault_en.asp. For more inormation on the work othe OSCE Oce or Democratic Institutions and Human Rights onthe Holocaust education and remembrance, see:www.osce.org/odihr/44474; For more inormation on the worko UNESCO on the Holocaust and remembrance, see:www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/unesco_commemorates_the_victims_o_the_holocaust/.For more inormation on the work o the UN on the Holocaust,see the website o the Holocaust and the United Nations OutreachProgramme at: www.un.org/en/holocaustremembrance/.

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Human rights education at Holocaust memorial sites across the European Union: An overview o practices

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Development o a network o teachers, memorialsites and museums, and young people

The publications and network are also expectedto be useul in the implementation o various

related EU initiatives, such as the Key CompetencesFramework, the Lielong Learning Frameworkand the development o the Europe or CitizensProgramme 2014-2020.The FRA would like to thankAnna-Karin Johansson and Christer Mattson romthe Living History Forum or their contribution tothis publication, as well as those who supportedthem in this work: Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs(Jagiellonian University Krakow); Wol Kaiser (Houseo the Wannsee-Conerence, Berlin); Paul Salmons(Institute o Education, University o London); MoniqueEckmann (University o Applied Sciences o WesternSwitzerland); Barry van Driel (Anne Frank House,Amsterdam); Eva Fried, Brigita Lowander, SteanAndersson, Christina Gamstorp, Max Sollinger, BitteWallin and Oscar sterberg (Living History Forum,Stockholm); and Verena Haug (University o Frankurt,Frankurt am Main). The Education Working Group andthe Memorial and Museums Working Group o theTask Force or International Cooperation on HolocaustEducation, Remembrance and Research providedvaluable comments and insights.

We hope that this publication will trigger refectionand critical debate and are keen to receive eedback

that will help to urther advance dialogue. Please visitthe projects website and send us your eedback [email protected].


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1EU Member States have a responsibility to promoterespect or human rights through education.EU museums and memorial sites that are linked tothe Nazi period play an important role in this respect,testiying to the historical consequences o racism,intolerance and prejudice, and oering an insight intothe intrinsic value o human rights.

Human rights education, however, appears not to be

well integrated into school curricula. Those teachers,

pupils and students who took part in the FRA project

said that human rights received no more thancursory treatment.

When asked about the major potential achievementso educational activities at museums and memorialsites linked to the Holocaust, ministries o 21 EUMember States responsible or education and/orthe preservation o sites said that awareness odemocratic values was most important. Knowledgeabout the Holocaust was ranked as the secondmost-important achievement, closely ollowed byawareness o the importance o human rights.

Governments see a close link between learningabout the Holocaust and learning rom that historyto promote democratic values and human rights.Historical museums and memorial sites are seen todaynot only as places o symbolic signicance in terms othe politics and culture o remembrance, but also asinstitutions which can convey historical narratives. It isperhaps less clear how ar governments value thesesites as a means to enhance historical understanding that is, to explore how narratives are constructed,

the evidential basis and historical methods thatare employed. However, eorts to oster suchunderstanding could also be benecial to human rightseducation, honing young peoples critical thinking skills,ostering a desire or the truth and a respect or therigorous use o evidence skills and values, in short,that may make them less susceptible to the distortionso stereotype, misrepresentation and prejudicecommonly used to devalue people and dehumanise.

.. H Hcu educc e hum heduc

Human rights are at the oundation o the EU. MostMember States have committed themselves tointegrating into their school curricula human rightsand democracy on the one hand, and education aboutthe Holocaust and other Nazi crimes on the other animportant, but dicult, task.

Many European governments, as noted in the FRAreport Discover the past or the uture The role ohistorical sites and museums in Holocaust education

and human rights education in the EU, considermemorial sites and historical museums connected tothe Holocaust as obvious places or education abouthuman rights. Indeed, they consider this to be one otheir oremost aims.

However, as the FRA report indicates, knowledgeabout human rights is weak among many teachers,

Kede f Hcuh ee fhum h bh?


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pupils and students. Memorial sites do not vieweducation about human rights as a priority duringwhat are oten very brie school visits. Conversely,human rights educators appear to neglect the historyo the Holocaust and its potential to enrich their work;

ew seem to organise visits to Holocaust memorialsand museums. As a result, the ocus o the vastmajority o the many school visits to Holocaust-related museums and memorials is on events relatedto the Holocaust, the history o the site and theindividuals connected to it.

There has recently been a movement to tie teachingabout the Holocaust and its history to teaching abouthuman rights. Based on the results o FRA research onthe role o memorial sites and museums in Holocaustand human rights education, it appears that students

and teachers would like to develop and deepen theirunderstanding o the principle o the equal value oall people through learning and teaching about theHolocaust, but they have limited support in the orm otheories and methods. There is little pedagogic workthat brings together the history o the Holocaust withcontemporary issues, especially with human rights.

There are clear historical links between the elds oHolocaust education and human rights education,though they have developed out o dierentperspectives and with links to various scienticdisciplines. The UN ormulated the UniversalDeclaration o Human Rights (UDHR) when memorieso World War II were resh. It was adopted in 1948.The Convention on the Prevention and Punishmento the Crime o Genocide (Genocide Convention) wasadopted in the same year. In the Nuremberg trials,which ran rom 1945 to 1949, a number o leadingNazis and others were brought to justice in ground-breaking international trials or such oences inmilitary tribunals that can be considered the oundingo international criminal law.

In human rights education, the distinction between

learning about human rights and learning or humanrights has become standard. A third dimension,learning with or through human rights, has recentlybeen added. These distinctions make it possible todierentiate the possible contributions, and the limits,o Holocaust education as a human rights tool or eacho these three areas.

CONSIDERATIONS

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Learning about human rights reers toknowledge o the history and mechanisms ohuman rights, the institutions created to examinecompliance with them and the legal system. Italso means understanding the signicance andcontent o human rights. This could be termed thecognitive dimension.

Learning or human rights reers to the knowledgeneeded to enable one to act to protect those rights.This includes knowledge o ones own and otherpeoples rights, the ability to identiy breaches o

those rights and the knowledge o how to protectand re-establish them. This could be termed theemancipatory dimension.

Learning with or through human rights is thethird dimension, indicating that learning will takeplace using didactic methods that refect theideas behind human rights, i.e. learning will takeplace in a democratic ashion and with the activeparticipation o all those involved. The teachingsituation must guarantee that the equal value oeach student is respected.

Source: FRA (2011) Discover the past or the uture - The role ohistorical sites and museums in Holocaust education and humanrights education in the EU, Luxembourg, Publications Oce othe European Union

Against this background, it can be considered in whatareas human rights education can give inspiration toHolocaust education and vice versa.

As ar as the rst dimension, learning about humanrights, is concerned, there are several links withHolocaust education. Studying the Holocaust provides

countless examples o the inringement o basichuman rights and the suering caused victims, thushelping create insights into the concept o humanrights and the need to recognise values and protectthem. Another link can be ound between the eventso World War II itsel and the drating o the UDHR,the Genocide Convention and the legal systemsestablished to protect undamental rights.

For the second dimension, learning or humanrights, the links are not so obvious. Yet examining


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Knowledge o Holocaust history or awareness o human rights or both

1

the perspectives o the various players during theHolocaust the perpetrators, victims, bystanders,rescuers and resistors can contribute to a moralevaluation o the actions o these various groups,the rst step o which is to consider active conduct.

Nazi Germanys removal o those mechanisms toprotect human rights that existed under the WeimarConstitution may elicit questions about the importanceo such mechanisms, and what the consequenceswould be i they were not in existence today.

Teaching in accordance with or through humanrights can be applied to all subjects and teachingcontexts. At many museums and memorial sites, aone-sided transer o knowledge, involving only ashort visit and inormation sharing, is still common.Still, an increasing number o organisations are also

employing methods that enable students to acquiretheir knowledge actively and independently and togain a level o autonomy in their learning. In suchcases, students own experiences o inringemento human rights can be included in conversation andrefection. This approach requires the educator toenter into a more equitable relationship with students,giving up some o the traditional power o the teachervis--vis the student.

To summarise, Holocaust education has the potentialto make a signicant contribution to human rightseducation. I careully conceptualised and skilullydelivered, it can open minds. Holocaust educationcan prompt an interest in human rights and providea starting point or dealing with them. On the otherhand, human rights education contributes toolsand perspectives to urther develop teaching onthe Holocaust, better aligning its teaching with theexpectations and needs o teachers and students.

CONSIDERATIONS

sech f he me f Hcueduc

Holocaust education is not a commonly acceptedterm nor is there an agreed-upon denition o it .For the purposes o this FRA research, Holocausteducation was understood as:

[] education that takes the discrimina-tion, persecution, and extermination othe Jews by the National Socialist regimeas its ocus, but also includes Nazi crimesagainst other victim groups both or thepurposes o deeper understanding andcontextualisation o the Holocaust andout o a desire to acknowledge andcommemorate the suering o numerousnon-Jewish victims o the Nazi era.

.. teche, u d udee Hcueduc d humh educ

As indicated in the FRA report Discover the past for

the future The role of historical sites and museums

in Holocaust education and human rights education in

the EU, discussion with teachers, pupils and students

in 10 European countries revealed an expectation

that teaching about the Holocaust should deal with

the historical context, acts and historiography, as

well as with questions o ethics, morals and human

values. The historical context is important not only

or the knowledge itsel, but also because it orms

a basis or refecting and drawing conclusions that

apply to the present.

Including this latter element is consideredundamental both in the classroom and when visitinga memorial site or historical museum. However,the concept o human rights is seldom addressed,and teaching about the Holocaust is rarely linkedto currently existing mechanisms to protect humanrights. FRA discussions with teachers and studentsindicated that human rights is not a subject that hasbeen developed or incorporated into school teaching.

Studying the Holocaust provides countless

examples o the inringement o basicundamental rights and the suering

victims endured.

[] An increasing number o organisations arealso employing methods that enable students

to acquire their knowledge actively andindependently and to gain a level o autonomy

in their learning.


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Many students see human rights as an intangible andabstract concept.3

Both students and teachers emphasised that visitsto historical sites should ocus on the history o the

site itsel. The course o events at the site, the peopleconnected to it and the place itsel should play themost important role. For a visit o this kind, humanrights as such were not mentioned as a core element.Incorporating this aspect would require additional timeand work - preparatory or ollow-up work in school,special workshops etc. In contrast to historical sitevisits, however, visits to historical museums wereseen as presenting a greater possibility o discussingquestions related to human rights.

Visits to memorial sites and historical museums linked

to the Holocaust oten evoke strong eelings. Teachersconsidered these emotions as undamentally valuablein students education, or while they can hamper thelearning process, they can also stimulate it. Teachersalso pointed out the risk o emotional overload andthe importance o preparing students beore the visit.The site allows you to really eel the atmosphere,which is essential or the learning process. I you eelsomething, it sticks, said a teacher in Amsterdam.

The students emphasised the need or refection aterthe visit. They needed time to process the oten-

strong eelings stirred and to examine the relevanceo the experience and the learning to themselves andto the world today. The teachers also emphasised theimportance o debrieng students, opening the fooror discussion, an exchange o views and refection.This need is also related to the students willingnessto engage in an exchange o views refections thatallows them to express their personal thoughts andindependent opinions.

The students also pointed out that it is important orthem to be proactive during visits. They thereorerecommended an exploratory, research-based and

project-oriented approach. Such an approach wouldhelp avoid the risk o students becoming a passiveaudience during a guided tour, or that the inormationprovided at the site overlaps with or duplicates

3 For a discussion o methodology and more detail on ndings oFRA research in this subject area, see Discover the past or theuture The role o historical sites and museums in Holocausteducation and human rights education in the EU, availableat: www.ra.europa.eu/raWebsite/research/publications/publications_per_year/pub_holocaust-education_en.htm.

what they already know. I students are involved inchoosing the theme to be examined, it increases thepossibility that the learning will be aligned to theirprevious understanding and level.

Teachers, pupils and students all underlined theimportance o the guides and educators at the sitesand museums. Students in Copenhagen categorised,as good examples, those guides that not only showedthe more obvious things but who also engagedstudents emotionally. Teachers perceive memorialsites and museums as educational institutionsand believe that the sta there should be able tocommunicate areas o knowledge. For many teacherstaking part in the discussions, the success o visits tomemorial sites and museums was linked primarily tothe quality o the educational approach and to the

competence o sta o the particular institution.The interactive skills o guides and educational stadrew particular comment.

For more inormation on the views o teachers andstudents, see the FRA report Discover the past or theuture The role o historical sites and museums inHolocaust education and human rights education in the

EU, available on the FRA website: www.ra.europa.eu

It is not enough to listen to a witness, i you donot connect his/her experience to the presenttime, i you dont recognise there is still a defcitin human rights today.Student, Italy

The students get the most out o it themselves,which is much more powerul because theydraw their own conclusions; all we do is showthem the way.

Teacher, Czech Republic


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Knowledge o Holocaust history or awareness o human rights or both

.3. Mem e d mueumvew key fc feduc ucce

In Europe there are hundreds o institutions whichresearch, educate about and commemorate eventsrom the Nazi period. Many o them were establishedsoon ater World War II, a number have been set upduring the last 15 years. The initial ocus o many o theinstitutions was to preserve the site and commemorate

the victims. Today, many o these institutions oer abroad range o educational activities; governments,teachers and students view them as important placesto learn about the history o the Holocaust and explorecontemporary questions linked to that history.

4 For a list o the 22 institutions which participated in the researchproject, see FRA (2011) Discover the past or the uture The roleo historical sites and museums in Holocaust educationand human rights education in the EU, Luxembourg,Publications Oce, p. 40.

The institutions dier greatly with regard to visitornumbers, budget and range o educational activities.Some require substantial resources to accommodatethe large number o visitors seeking guided tours, andhave only meagre opportunities to develop pedagogicconcepts to meet the targeted needs o visitinggroups. Others have ewer visitors and operateinstead on the basis o longer visits or through

activities carried out in schools. It is thereore not

necessarily the institutions with the largest budgets

that spend the most on educational programmes.

The percentage o the total budget spent oneducational activities varies signicantly among

institutions. Some spend just 1 % o their total

budget on educational activities, while others spend

up to 50%. However, these dierences also refect

some institutions need to spend a substantial

amount o their resources to maintain the historicalbuildings and arteacts.

the Hcu educ d hum h eech jec

The main purpose o this research project was to investigate links between the Holocaust and human rightseducation, looking at practices in original, memorial sites and museums. The research resulted in a reportDiscover the past or the uture The role o historical sites and museums in Holocaust education and human

rights education in the EU, this overview o practices, an online toolkit on how to prepare classes about theHolocaust and human rights and a handbook or teachers providing inormation on how to make best use ovisits to Holocaust-related sites and exhibitions or teaching about the Holocaust and about human rights.All these publications are available at: http://ra.europa.eu.

This research project drew on input rom ocus group discussions, surveys o ministries responsible oreducation and or maintaining memorial sites in all EU countries, surveys o 22 memorial sites and museumsdealing with the Holocaust as well as research visits to 12 such sites, which involved sta interviews.

Focus group discussions were held in 2009 within the ramework o the FRA research project in nineEuropean countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands,Poland and the United Kingdom. A total o 119 people participated. The teachers and students involved hadprevious experience o visiting historical sites and museums linked with the Holocaust. The purpose o theocus groups was to obtain a picture o teachers and students experiences and expectations with regard toteaching about the Holocaust and human rights, particularly in connection with visits to historical sites.

In addition to the ocus group discussions, 22 institutions in 10 countries were surveyed in the researchproject. The institutions selected were chosen to represent countries with dierent historical experiences oWorld War II and the Holocaust. They were asked about a number o actors relating to their operations andtheir work with human rights. Twelve o these institutions were also visited by a research team.4

FRA ACTIvITy


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When 22 institutions in 10 countries were askedabout the primary aim o their work, most pointedto dissemination o knowledge o the Holocaust and,in particular, to that o the specic history o therespective memorial site. Only one o the institutions,

Hartheim Castle in Austria, said that raising awarenessabout human rights was its most important aim. Theinstitutions view the pasts relevance to the presentas closely linked with issues such as tolerance,democratic understanding and work againstprejudice, discrimination, anti-Semitism and racism,yet these issues are oten not discussed in terms othe recognition, preservation and implementationo human rights. Pedagogical concepts thatbring together the history o the Holocaust andcontemporary issues, especially in connection withhuman rights, are lacking.

All the institutions indicated that 1619-year-oldstudents were the main target group or theireducational activities. Six institutions also said theyocused on primary school children.

The duration o visits varied. Only seven o theinstitutions surveyed said that the average visit by anunder-18-year-old exceeded two hours. The longestgroup visits on average, our hours, were to the JewishMuseum in Prague or the Holocaust Centre in theUnited Kingdom.

Seven o the 22 institutions said that they consideredtheir nancial and human resources satisactory; therest were o the opinion that more resources wereneeded. The institutions also raised the issue o thelack o nancial resources to und school visits.

The institutions were also asked what they consideredto be the main success actors or their educationalwork. Many mentioned the school authoritiesattitudes towards the subject as a crucial actor it wasundamental that school authorities prioritise education

about the Nazi period, the Holocaust and human rights.Another important actor was the preparatory workconducted beore a visit. Well-prepared pupils mademore in-depth educational experiences possible. Theywere able to participate proactively and to acquire andquestion knowledge independently during the visit.Many institutions also consider it important or studentsto have sucient time or independent observation,refection and/or discussion o what they haveexperienced. Bringing up human rights issues duringthe visits would probably require visits that last longeras well as acilities like seminar rooms, in addition to

new teaching concepts and methods.

Another important success actor mentioned wasthe knowledge and attitude o the institutions sta.Most institutions are aware o the crucial role playedby their educational sta and guides in disseminatingknowledge and triggering processes o refectionin their visitors. Discussions with students andteachers conrm that sta and guides have a verystrong impact on a visits outcome. This actor wasalso mentioned in connection with education abouthuman rights, as knowledge about human rights hasnot been a primary ocus when employing sta atthe museums and memorial sites dealing with theHolocaust. I human rights aspects are to becomemore integrated into the work o memorial sites andmuseums, it is necessary or sta to acquire greaterknowledge about these issues.


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iue f cce f hce d mueum2

.. auhec: e k?

A visit to a historical site linked to the Holocaust otenmakes a strong impression on students. According tothe present research, they eel that they come closerto the past and that their understanding has increased.Diaries, testimonials, authentic documents and othermaterials can help create such a eeling.

In order or students to experience this eeling oauthenticity, i.e. o closeness, reality or genuineness,they rst need to have acquired the knowledge o whathappened at the site and o its historical context. I oneknows nothing about the place one is observing, it isdoubtul whether one can experience authenticity. Toa large extent, the knowledge and awareness won inthe classroom will be conrmed and deepened by theauthenticity experienced during the visit. As a result opre-visit preparation, the site itsel becomes compellingevidence o the historical acts.

However, authenticity can also be misused. Erroneouscontent can be communicated to, or experienced,by the students as a result o lack o preparationand/or pedagogical strategy or the visit, or someelements can be emphasised in such a way as tobias the overall picture. The emotional elements canpredominate without any actual knowledge beingcommunicated.

This is where the educators and guides, and theirability to create the conditions or this authenticity,

play a crucial role. The educators and guides steer andlead a group through a selection o places, objects andstories. Their ability to adapt the guiding to the needo the relevant group determines whether the visitorsexperience authenticity.

Several institutions provide groups with preparatorymaterial in advance o their visits. This materialneed not be directly related to the site or exhibition,but might instead provide students with a broaderorientation to the topic. The objective is to attune

the students to the topic so that they are able torecognise crucial phenomena or terminology on theguided tour.

Hartheim Castle in Austria, a castle where personswith disabilities were murdered rom 1940 as part o aso-called euthanasia programme, provides such pre-visit materials, sending out a DVD containing ve shortlms or students to watch. The lms describe the lieo persons with disabilities in contemporary Austriathrough the stories o ve persons who were askedto travel by public transport to the Memorial Site

Hartheim Castle. The Imperial War Museum in Londonalso sends schools a video, describing something othe rich diversity o Jewish lie in Europe beore theHolocaust. Other sites have comprehensive lessonmaterial available.

An original site also provides the opportunity tocomprehend and experience something that cannotbe experienced in any other way a sense o scale,organisation and detail. Students will have theirknowledge reinorced by various sensory impressions.


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One aspect raised by the students in the research wasthe risk o the visit becoming a ritual, i.e. somethingthat takes place without context and without thestudents understanding why they are there and what isexpected o them. In such cases, a visit to an authentic

site such as a concentration camp can prove to be anegative experience. At some institutions, such asthe Buchenwald Memorial, which allow students toexamine and interpret authentic arteacts, such asevidence o human annihilation at original sites, hasproved benecial in increasing their involvement andtheir understanding. However, one needs to be awareo impact o arteacts on students ability to learn abouthistory and human rights. Arteacts, like propagandapamphlets, may carry the view o the perpetrators.The assignment should be designed on basis o theeducational goals rather that the arteacts available.

PROMISING PRACTICE

tc cm e bedmem e

It has become increasingly common or groupsvisiting Holocaust memorial sites also to take thetime to visit sites where the victims lived beorethe mass murder. These visits may be to townsthat once had a Jewish population, to synagoguesthat have now been converted into libraries andto swimming baths or to other areas rom whichJews were expelled. Pupils and students in theresearch project reerred to the importance osuch visits.

The extent and scope o the Holocaust can be

claried by enabling visiting groups to link theseabandoned sites, or example, through theates o individuals who make the connectionbetween the visitors geographical area o originand the institution they are visiting. In this way,pupils and students can understand both thepurpose and result o the Nazi regimes policy andcollaborating governments.

It is also possible to link the historic site withits surrounding location. For example, the StateMuseum at Majdanek takes groups o students

on tours o Lublin where there was a substantialand thriving Jewish population beore World WarII. The area around the site can also create strongimpressions in other ways, or instance, throughits proximity to surrounding towns and villages orthe beauty o the landscape.

Even i it is impossible to take visiting groupsout to the surrounding area during the tour,guides can still point out the link between thememorial site and the surrounding environment.This will give teachers a basis or their ownuture visits to such sites. Inormation about the

surrounding area, how to visit these places andwhat discussion and activities to lead there, mightalso orm part o the preparatory material sent toschools, enabling teachers to incorporate theminto their pre-visit preparations.


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Issues o concern or historical sites and museum

.. le ce

Students who visit historical sites to learn about androm the Holocaust want to participate actively inthe experience. They emphasise that they are better

motivated i they themselves can examine dierentthemes through individuals stories, documents andviewing physical sites. Many institutions acknowledgethe possibility o adopting this kind o approach,but or various reasons the majority o visitors stillparticipate in guided tours, spending most o theirtime passively listening to the guides talk.

Human rights education emphasises the importance oensuring that participants are active in the teaching/learning process. From a human rights educationperspective, teaching should use an approach that

refects the ideas behind human rights: i.e., that allparticipants have the opportunity to include theirexperiences, express their thoughts and have acertain infuence on the process. It is consideredundamental that the teaching should be conducted ina participatory way allowing or students involvementand decision making concerning the actual lesson.One important aim is to equip students with theknowledge and tools that will help them become asindependent as possible in their abil ity to acquire newknowledge and refect upon it.

The students who participated in the present study eltthat they learned more i they played an active role.Allowed to examine a specic topic or themselves,students could work with a certain degree o autonomyand at their own level o knowledge.

This approach usually requires more time than aguided tour. Several institutions have developedadvanced programmes and workshops in whichstudents are given the opportunity to examinedierent themes, oten including work with arteacts,documents or testimonials. For example, at the Houseo the Wannsee Conerence in Berlin, participants

have the opportunity to examine a special topic or awhole day, using library resources. These programmestypically range rom one to several days and requirethe input o an active and committed teacher who cannd and set aside time or this type o activity.

Other institutions try to integrate this kind omethodology into shorter visits, combining a briesite or exhibition tour with discussions and individualor small-group work. This is important step. Since agreat majority o the visitors to memorial sites and

museums dealing with the Holocaust stay or lessthan our hours, most visitors engage in activitieswhere the potential or active participation is limited.The inclusion o a component that diers rom a one-sided transer rom guide/educator to students could

contribute to a better learning process.

At the State Museum at Majdanek, students can

combine a visit to the ormer concentration and

death camp with the study o a diary written at the

camp. Ater working with dierent aspects o the

diary, the students tour the site, telling each other

about dierent aspects o camp lie. An educator

rom the museum accompanies the group and

provides general knowledge.

At the House o the Wannsee Conerence in Berlin,

students are asked to orm small groups, select a certainexhibit, examine it and then present their ndings to the

plenum, explaining why they chose a particular object.

The guide acts as the groups acilitator.

By such strategies as setting aside time or discussionat the end o the visit and letting students expressthemselves in writing or drawing, this approach tolearning gives students more opportunity to refecton their eelings and to consider how their experienceo the site relates to ethical and moral questions.Another option is to ask students to prepare specic

questions beore the visit and ollow them up onsite. There are many ways o increasing the activeinvolvement o students. The person leading the visitis o undamental importance and must be someonewho is willing to involve participants and hear theirpoints o view, questions and refections.

.. tech emd c e

Teachers and educators using individual stories as

examples should be aware that this approach mightspark discussion about the perpetrators, victims andbystanders o today. They should be prepared to dealwith discussions o this kind, thus taking account othe students need to make reerence to their ownlives and world. History might serve as a reerenceto nuance a discussion o the present day; it is theeducators responsibility to ensure that the historicalreerences are not thereby distorted.


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More and more exhibitions and educational pro-

grammes on the Holocaust ocus on the perspectives o

individual persons, usually the stories and ates o the

victims. However, or a discussion and refection

on human rights, it is also important to highlight and

analyse the perspectives o the other protagonists.

Some o the most undamental concepts used toanalyse an event like the Holocaust are those thatdene the roles o the various players. In researchand education, these have long since been denedas perpetrators, victims and bystanders. Peoplesometimes also reer to rescuers and collaborators.

Using these main protagonists as a basis or educationcan allow a complex picture o the historical event todevelop. The events can be examined rom dierent

perspectives, revealing the conditions under whichchoices and decisions were made. On this basis,the actions o dierent people can be analysed anddiscussed, along with other their other possiblecourses o action and the importance o standards,both in the past and today.

One essential condition or this approach, however, isto have a clear historical context the actions cannotbe judged on the basis o the experiences o today.Another condition is that we must be able to see thehistorical players actions as representative o accepted,

and to a large extent expected, possible courses ohuman action at the time and in the context in whichthey lived rather than as extreme exceptions. It wasthe context that was extreme and not the individualsthemselves, even i such people did exist.

Highlighting the victims o the Holocaust allows usto explore how targeted people and groups respondto genocidal situations, to consider what was knownand understood and what actions were available tothem at dierent times. It also helps us to appreciatethat the victims were not a passive mass but ratherhuman beings with agency, even in a world o

choiceless choices.

Further, this perspective urnishes knowledge aboutthe eects o Nazi persecution on individuals. Theirhuman suering becomes concrete and tangible. Abiographical approach also provides the opportunityto show how victims, under the most diculto conditions, engaged in acts o solidarity withothers and tried to deend their human dignity. Thisilluminates the value o human rights and underscoresthe need to protect them under all circumstances.

The victims pre-Holocaust narratives also describe thedevelopment o a society that excludes certain groupsand denes them as less valuable than others.

In order to understand how the assaults on victims

became socially acceptable courses o action, it isimportant to highlight the roles o the perpetratorsand bystanders. The victims were not responsibleor the measures directed against them, and hadvery limited possibilities or action. The perpetratorsand bystanders had signicantly greater possibilitiesor action, even i that scope varied rom situationto situation.

With a greater or lesser degree o sel-awareness,the perpetrators chose to carry out the acts that theycommitted. The perpetrators are the people through

whom we can see the thoughts and ideas that liebehind the Holocaust, those most oten used tojustiy perpetrators actions and absolve themselveso blame. The perpetrators are the people whoinringed human rights. However, it is also importantto avoid demonising them and describing them asincomprehensible evil monsters. I we choose tolook at them in this light, we dismiss them as beingundamentally dierent rom ourselves, people romwhom we have nothing to learn.

One way to reach beyond this demonisation is toencourage visitors/students to look at the lives,considerations, choices and actions o perpetrators, bymeans o their diaries, photographs and interrogationstatements. Perpetrators can be dened in variousways, but, in this case, we should ocus on thosewho were or closely involved in the atrocities o thecamp and murder system. The utmost sensitivity isrequired to avoid either demonising these individualsor rendering their crimes banal.

The bystanders are less easy to distinguish, althoughthey also played a major role, or they are the peoplewho conrm the existence o a prevailing standard.

Bystanders can be seen as the individuals who havethe option to act in deence o human rights.

European Holocaust education rarely emphasisesthe role o the rescuers, or helpers, unlike in humanrights education which oten ocuses on the heroeswho ght or human rights, presenting them as amodel or others who want to take action. Only a verysmall number o individuals helped Jews during theHolocaust, but they did exist. Examining their motivesor action can provide perspectives we can use when


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Issues o concern or historical sites and museum

19

considering our own scope to take action. It shouldbe made clear that helping does not always meansaving lives or changing history. The rescuers rescueda belie in humanity and they thereore still serve asexamples, though they should not be used to turn the

history o the Holocaust into a redemptive narrativeabout the possibility o human goodness.

.. gude

As indicated in the FRA report Discover the past orthe uture The role o historical sites and museums

in Holocaust education and human rights education

in the EU, the pedagogic development surroundingguided tours seems to be rather limited, and manyguides eel that their competence and experience is

not taken into account and exploited.

The students taking part in the research pointed outthe important role played by the guides. For them, theatmosphere and meaningulness o the visit hinged onthe skills and attitudes o the guide and the educationalmethods used. In the students view, guides shouldhave good historical knowledge, but their ability tocommunicate with and engage visitors is equallyimportant. It was interesting to have the guideshistorical knowledge, but it still elt as though it hadnothing to do with me, said a student in Denmark.

This research project suggests that the role o guidesas educators could be strengthened.

The guides at many institutions are employed on anhourly rather than a xed-term basis. One reasonor this system is that showing groups around ora ull day, ve days a week is considered dicult.The system also gives the institutions the option ochoosing a guide according to his or her expertiseand the theme and group concerned, and allowsadjustment to an uneven fow o visitors.

The disadvantage is that guides are less integratedinto the institutions. The pedagogic strategiesand methods developed in more comprehensiveeducational programmes are in many cases notcommunicated to the guides, and are not adaptedto unction in the ormat o a guided tour, even i itwere possible. Some guides eel that their expertiseand knowledge are not ully used and that they aregiven little scope to develop guided tours to respondto groups expectations and needs. In some cases,even though the guides are employed ull-time, an

organisational division between guides and educatorsworking with long-term programmes can lead to asimilar situation.

At the Imperial War Museum in London, acilitators

work as an integrated part o the educationdepartment. When courses, seminars and discussionsare arranged or small and expert-oriented externalgroups, these orm part o the guides continuoustraining. When guides participate in these courses,it encourages them to refect on their own historicalknowledge and educational approach.

More deliberate and requent communication withguides and increased training opportunities wouldprobably improve the situation. It is also important toensure greater integration between the department

that organises the guides and the educationdepartment, in order to enhance the exchange oexperience and knowledge. Guides at the sites visitedexpressed a wish to take part in discussions about theaim o the institutions educational work, and the bestmethods to use.

The majority o institutions surveyed pointed outthat what characterised a good guide was his or herhistorical knowledge. Communication skills wereemphasised only in a ew cases. Guides are otenrecruited, or example, rom historical institutionsor university history departments, and the urthertraining they receive ocuses on increasing theiractual knowledge. They rarely have the opportunityto develop their communication skills, their teachingexpertise or their ability to handle problematicsituations that may arise. This probably refectsthe priorities set by the institutions themselves the guided tours aim to communicate historicalknowledge to visitors but it might also refect alack o awareness o the importance o the guideseducational skills to stimulating visitors curiosity andincreasing their involvement and interest.

The teacher should not be orgotten in the educationalprocess. In the FRA research, students underlinedthe crucial role that teachers play in education aboutthe Holocaust. It is important to encourage teachersaccompanying groups to remain pedagogicallyresponsible or the students. A short discussion withthe teacher beore the tour to orientate studentsand to underline the desirability o their activeparticipation is oten time very well spent.


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A visit to a museum or memorial site may raisequestions that cannot be answered on the spot. Thequestions will certainly provoke discussion o theundamental rights o human beings, o the valuesthat must be saeguarded. Based on the institutions

many encounters with young visitors, it would bepossible or them to develop discussion papers andsuggestions or post-visit activities. Very little workhas been done in this eld and it is an area with agreat potential or integrating historical tour guidingwith the universal questions o human rights.

The quality o excursions is highly dependent onthe proessionalism o guides, how they are ableto involve the students and to provoke interestin the topic.

Teacher, Lithuania


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2

Educ che eeced hc ed mueum

3In the next section eight institutions have been askedto describe how they have made links betweenHolocaust education and human rights education.The approaches described are not necessarily theinstitutions main ocus. Nevertheless, the experiencescan provide perspectives and ideas and help inormdiscussions about the possibilities or, and limits to,integration between Holocaust education and humanrights education.

In practice, it is dicult to nd a uniorm answer to

the question o how human rights education andHolocaust education are linked across the EU, and howout-o-school historical sites and museums are usedwithin the ramework o Human Rights Education.When asked which museums, memorial sites andmonuments are particularly sought out within theramework o Human Rights Education, governmentsrequently mentioned the same institutions andplaces as were reerred to with regard to Holocausteducation. A number o ministries made it clearthat in principle school trips are not subject to anyinstructions rom the state. Instead, the specic

educational ocus o visits to museums and memorialsites is determined by schools and teachers andwhat the sites oer. Few ministries gave concreteexamples o how they promote learning about humanrights at historical museums and memorial sites linkedto the Holocaust.

.. the ae Fk Hue,the nehed

The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam ocially openedits doors as a museum in 1960 and now attractsone million visitors a year. Its philosophy was putin place by Otto Frank, Anne Franks ather and thelone survivor o the eight people who went intohiding at Prinsengracht 263 during World War II. OttoFrank decided that Annes legacy should be used as a

universal message against intolerance and in avour ohuman rights.

Currently, the Anne Frank House denes its mission asthreeold: maintaining the Secret Annexe in the housein Amsterdam, bringing Anne Franks lie story to theattention o people all over the world and encouragingthem to refect on the dangers o anti-Semitism,racism and discrimination and the importance oreedom, equal rights and democracy.

Approximately 95% o all the educational work o

the Anne Frank House today takes place outside themuseum itsel, and the large majority o this outsidethe Netherlands.

a du ce f dehum h

The UDHR and later human rights documents havealways inormed the work o the Anne Frank House.There is a recognition that the history o the Naziscoming to power and the tragedy o the Holocaust


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22

represented a gradual process o denying basic humanrights to Jews and others, and in the end the violationo the most important human right o all, the rightto live. The museum also makes a direct connectionbetween the end o World War II and hence the end

o the Holocaust and the period o tremendous crimesagainst humanity and how the world came to termswith the legacy o this history. This implies educationalwork around the Nuremberg trials, the creation o theUN and the signing o the UDHR.

Perhaps the clearest example o connecting thehistory o the Holocaust to contemporary issues isthe project Free2choose. Free2choose started asan interactive exhibition at the Anne Frank Housein September 2005, but has now been taken tomore than 15 countries as a project or schools and

communities. The concrete ocus o this project is theclash that exists between deending undamentalrights and the protection o democracy in modernsocieties. The starting point, with Anne Franks legacyand the denial o human rights during the Nazi periodin mind, is that in todays democratic societies citizensare guaranteed certain basic human rights. Theseinclude reedom o speech, the right to privacy andreligious reedom. However, the question remains:should these rights be absolute and unrestricted?What happens when these (or other) undamentalrights confict with each other, or when the securityo a democratic society is threatened? When do wedecide to make something illegal, against the law?Free2choose examines real-lie situations rom aroundthe world in which undamental rights have clashedwith each other or with the saeguarding o thedemocratic rule o law.

Instead o providing yes or no, right or wronganswers, young people are encouraged to ormtheir own opinions. The process o discussion anddebate, o critical thinking and refection are the keycomponents o the project.

The Anne Frank House has developed a number obasic lm clips. Several relate directly to themes thatare inormed by the history o the Holocaust, suchas: Should neo-Nazis be allowed to march in ronto a synagogue?; Should people be allowed tobuy Mein Kamp? and Should people be allowedto deny the Holocaust on the internet? Otherlms relate to human rights dilemmas less directlyconnected to themes inormed by the Holocaust.Film clips with a national ocus have also beenincluded in the material.

Since 2008, young people have been involved moreextensively in organising debates around thesequestions and also in creating lms themselves. Thispeer-education approach is embraced to developa broader human rights project with multiple

components, working with materials rom both thepast and present.

sce d ce f mme:

When working with the material Free2Choose,visitors are rst introduced to the history o AnneFrank and the history o the Holocaust, using ahuman rights lens or instance looking at thegradual erosion o human rights in Germanyduring the 1930s. The young people engage inseveral exercises ocusing on human rights thenand now, globally and in their communities. Theyare invited to take part in discussions arounddilemmas about how dierent human rightsconfict with one another.

Ater refecting on human rights issues in theirown lives, participants can identiy dilemmas andwrite the script or a short lm that they wouldlike to make. They then work with proessionaleducators and lm makers to develop their ownlms. Finally, they take their lms into schools to

lead discussions and debates about human rights.


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Educational approaches at selected historical sites and museum

23

.. Buched Memse, gem

The Buchenwald historical site in Germany is a place

o learning and remembrance that includes severalperiods o history in its educational and research work.

Buchenwald concentration camp (1937-1945) becamea synonym or Nazi crimes. Between 1945 and 1950,the Soviet occupying authorities used the site as SpecialCamp No. 2 as an internment camp; ater 1958, the EastGerman government converted it into the NationalMemorial Site, the largest German concentration campmemorial site. Prisoners comprised alleged opponentso Stalinism, and alleged members o the Nazi party orNazi organisation. Ater 1990, other victim groups were

commemorated as well, as part o the memorial sitesnew conception. New exhibitions place the crimes intheir historical context.

Hum h jec d Buched

The educational concept dedicated to human rights atthe Buchenwald Memorial Site combines the history othe concentration camp with education in human rightsand is intended to sensitise participants to the principleo coexistence. Through discourse on the crimes againsthumanity committed by the Nazis, it is possible to

stimulate the examination o ethical principles.

Within the ramework o the project, participantsstudy the human rights violations that werecommitted in the concentration camp. Central tosuch an examination is the notion o learning byresearching and understanding through conceptualreconstruction through the use o biographies,documents and arteacts ound on the ormer campsite. In the examination o the history o these crimes,human rights serve as an orientation point or orminghistory-conscious judgments. The aim is to enable

participants to recognise the social mechanismsused to exclude and discriminate within the contexto the camps history and thereby sensitise them toviolations o human rights today.

The human rights project day also looks at the roleplayed by the French Buchenwald survivor StphaneHessel in drating the 1948 UDHR.

sce d ce f mme:

The Human rights project day is an educationalevent that lasts approximately eight hours.

Under the motto long live diversity, the projectopens with an exercise on questions o identityinvolving the participants. Cultural dierencesamong the seminar group members and the socialsignicance o cultural diversity are discussedusing methodological guidance. Based on this,there ollows refection on the undamentaluniversality o human rights and theirendangerment through ideologies o inequality inboth the past and present.

Ater this, as part o a tour through the historic site,thematic elements are addressed that directly or

indirectly concern human rights or the abuse o

human rights. The aim is to demonstrate crimes

against humanity and to establish connections

between these and present-day realities.

Theme-oriented research conducted in smallergroups, as well as a closing discussion about theculture o remembrance and human rights, areadditional, important activities o the day.


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.. Mm de shh,Fce

Opened to the public in Paris on 27 January 2005,

the Holocaust Memorial (Mmorial de la Shoah) isa centre or research, inormation and awareness-raising on the history o the genocide o Jews duringWorld War II. The museum, a documentation centreand memorial, is active within France and throughoutEurope, as well as in Arica and South America.

The Mmorial de la Shoah oers documentation omore than 36 million archive items, 10s o thousands oworks, exhibitions, cultural and scientic programmes,as well as teaching activities or schools and trainingsessions or teachers, public ocials (police, military

personnel, judges, etc.) and associations. The aim is toachieve a better understanding o this period o history,to transmit it to uture generations and to ght againstany orm o intolerance.

t f ce p

The police headquarters o Paris played a major role inthe collaboration between the Vichy regime and theGerman occupiers between 1940 and 1944. On theeve o the French deeat, most o the Jews o Francelived in Paris and its suburbs, and tens o thousandso Jewish men, women and children o all ages were

arrested by French police and handed over to theoccupier. The archives have remained closed or along time: and it was in Germany that the reportssubmitted by the French police to the occupier wereound, translated into German.

In 2005, an agreement was signed to exchange archivalmaterial with the Mmorial de la Shoah, which held asmall part o the police archives recovered in the chaoso the liberation. It was then decided that new policesta o Paris should be inormed o the attitude o theirinstitution under the occupation.

During the last days o their training, beore returningto their positions in the eld, the trainees visit theMmorial de la Shoah and attend an educationalprogramme. In the rst years, the emphasis o theprogramme was the responsibility o the French policeor the rounding-up o Jews, but eventually a balancewas ound between this aspect o reality and thato the direct or indirect aid provided by some o thepolice, who disobeyed their orders. Commissionedocers come alternately to accompany groups or

to participate in panel discussions. One o the mostinteresting and unexpected aspects o this experiencewas that in the majority o cases, the commissionedocers encouraged the new recruits to disobeymaniestly illegal orders, which they themselves could

be led to issue. A large part o new police personnelconsists o women and individuals rom Frenchoverseas territories or other non-European heritageimmigration, some o whom have experienced racial,religious or national discrimination. These policeocers take an active part in the debates, and theirquestions reveal an intense degree o refection ontheir proession and on the problems o democracy.

The police groups also met survivors, people whohad been arrested and deported. The survivors

took this interaction with the institution o the

police seriously; or many o them it was their rstinteraction since their arrest. To a large degree, it

appears that it is their human impact which ensures

the educational eectiveness o the training

sessions. In any case, the trainees (who already

number several thousand) and their supervisory sta

say that they are grateul that moral problems are

not side stepped but conronted directly.

sce d ce f mme:

The trainee police ocers are welcomed by amanager o the Mmorial de la Shoah and apolice ocer, who briefy explain the purpose othe session. They are shown a documentary lmentitled The police o the dark years (La police desannes noires). A ormer Jewish deportee who wasarrested by the French police and handed over tothe Germans provides testimony o his experience.A debate then ollows. The session ends with avisit to the Mmorial (walls with the names o thevictims and names o the righteous among thenations, the crypt and the permanent exhibition).

The programme lasts our hours.


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.. the UK Hcu Cee,Ued Kdm

The UK Holocaust Centre in Nottingham, Great Britain,

is both a memorial and a place o learning, providingacilities or people o all backgrounds to explorethe history and implications o the Holocaust. Theseinclude two permanent exhibitions, the MemorialMuseum and The Journey which is aimed at youngervisitors, examining the experience o Jewish childrenin Nazi Europe. The Centre is set in landscapedmemorial gardens that provide a counterpoint to thecontent o the exhibitions.

The Centre is also home to the Aegis Trust orgenocide prevention and to Aegis Students, a studentnetwork supporting Aegis. Aegis Trust was establishedin 2000, dedicated to the prevention o genocidethrough primary prevention (commemoration andeducation); secondary prevention (research intocurrent or potential genocidal situations, evidence-based policy advice, campaigning); and tertiaryprevention (working in societies where genocide hashappened, to help prevent recurrence).

le f he Hcu ed he ecde

The UK Holocaust Centre was established in 1995 by

Stephen and James Smith, based on the realisationthat the Holocaust posed undamental questions oreveryone regardless o race, religion or nationality.Every week since the Centres opening, students havevisited, met survivors and engaged in dialogue aboutthe implications o their experience. Invariably, thequestion is raised; How could we prevent recurrenceo such events?

When the Kosovo crisis erupted in 1999, it crystallisedthe ounders thinking on genocide prevention. ToNATO planners and the media, it came unexpectedly.

Yet, just as the Centres exhibition sets out Germanyslong descent rom civil society to mass murder, soelsewhere, they realised, by the time the violencestarts, it has been incubating or years. James Smithidentied genocide as a public health issue: I in the20th century 200 million people had died, not o state-sponsored mass murder but o some new disease,how much would we invest in preventive medicine?Today Aegis Trust also works to address the legacyo genocide in Rwanda and in 2004 opened the KigaliGenocide Memorial Centre in Rwandas capital, Kigali.

Aegis also helped lead campaigning on the Darurcrisis, now part o a wider crisis in Sudan as a whole,and it is now active in countering the impunity operpetrators around the world.

sce d ce f mme:

Being home to a genocide prevention organisationis invaluable to the UK Holocaust Centreseducational and proessional developmentprovision. Applying lessons rom the Holocaustis not academic; it is real and urgent, rooted inAegis work.

The UK Holocaust Centre oers variedprogrammes or students and proessionals.A typical secondary school programme, orexample, involves a short lm about theHolocaust, a tour o the main exhibition andgarden and a short lm on Rwanda or Darur,ollowed by a discussion on genocide and theresponsibility to protect those at risk. Theshowing o the Rwanda or Darur lm is designedto make the students aware that there arecontemporary genocides and that genocidecontains continuous challenges or us all.

The intention is to help students understand

that genocide and the processes leading to it arerecurrent problems, and that they themselvescan be part o the solution, whether it is aboutexclusion on their doorstep or on the other sideo the world. We live in a global society and ouracts have an impact even i we do not intendit. Regardless o whether we decide to remainsilent, or we choose to act, it has an impact. Inlearning rom the Holocaust, we have to addressthat challenge. In conclusion, the visitors hear aHolocaust survivors testimony, ollowed by anopportunity to ask questions and discuss what can

be learnt rom this experience.

At the end o a workbook used during the visit,the students are asked to identiy what actionsthey will take as a result o their visit .Thepurpose o this is to make them think abouthow they can be active themselves in takingresponsibility or their ellow human beingswithout prescribing one particular way to do this.


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.. Mem d EducCee Hhem Ce,au

From 1940 to 1945, Hartheim Castle in Austria wasone o six Nazi euthanasia centres, in which nearly30,000 people with actual or presumed physicaland mental disabilities as well as prisoners oconcentration camps and orced labour workers weremurdered. In 1995, the Hartheim Castle Society wasestablished with the goal o creating a proper place oretrospection, remembrance and social discourse.

With the nancial support o the state o UpperAustria, the Memorial and Educational Centre HartheimCastle was opened in 2003. It houses a memorialsite and the exhibition The value o lie. Since 2004the society has managed the site independently. It issupported nancially by the non-prot Memorial andEducational and Centre Hartheim Castle (Stitung Lern-und Gedenkort Schloss Hartheim) and other publicsponsors.

The Hartheim Documentation Oce o the UpperAustria State Archives is also housed in the buildingand serves as an important basis or both educationaland scholarly work.

a ehb he ue d df hum fe

The contextual and organisational concept o theMemorial and Educational Centre Hartheim Castleocuses on the connection between the historiclocation o Nazi euthanasia activities with present-dayquestions regarding the value and dignity o humanlie, and the accompanying task o pursuing thesequestions in the past, present and uture.

The starting point o the work is that the sole

oundation o social lie should be the saeguardingo human dignity and the acknowledgement odiversity. The connection between historical andcurrent questions must thereore be identied andormulated: What is the value o a lie? Can a lie beworthless? How does our modern society classiypeople? What opportunities and dangers are hidden,or instance, in genetic engineering and otherscientic and medical developments?

Visitors are able to investigate these questions inthe exhibition and memorial site and can explore thesituation o people with disabilities rom the period oindustrialisation through to the present day. Central tothis is the understanding that the rights o people with

disabilities are human rights.

Hartheim Castle is thus not only a place thatpreserves the historical site o Nazi murders, but hasalso become a place or refection on the conditionsand consequences o Nazi euthanasia and eugenicspolicies. To oster both goals, it houses both amemorial and an exhibition entitled The Value oLie. The memorial includes an exhibition aboutactivities during the Nazi period. The Value o Lieis an exhibition about the development o attitudestowards the value o lie rom the Enlightenment

to the present day. It describes the development oanthropology and racism, as well as that o modernmedicine and the ethical questions raised by this.The last rooms portray the lie o disabled people inAustria today.

The site both documents Nazi activities and providesa orum to discuss ideas and ideologies that emergetime and again in new orms, aecting groups likethe disabled. The goal o the site today is to createawareness o the undamental human rights principleo accepting people as they are.

The educational programmes that are provided arebased on visitors active participation. The aim isto invite the participants to learn about and discusssocial questions regarding the value o lie, aswell as to remember the past. The Memorial andEducational Centre Hartheim Castle is a place or theexamination o undamental socio-political, ethicaland cultural questions, or scholarly historical work,or the commemorative remembrance o the victimso National Socialism, and or both school-related andinormal education.


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sce d ce f mme:

Educational programmes at Hartheim Castleocus on current ethical questions pertaining to

the value o lie. The educational programmeA uture o breeding humans? begins with thepresent state o the debate on scientic advancesin medicine and gives visitors the opportunityto examine the exhibitions current ocal points.Pupils do this by working with recent pressreleases. The programme Power o languageaims to make pupils aware o the etymologicalorigin o our language and to sensitizse them tothe realisation that language refects a societysthought patterns. This topic is dealt with in part byusing undated quotations.

.6. the l H Fum,sede

The Living History Forum in Sweden was established

in 2003 and is an organisation that, on the basis othe Holocaust and other crimes against humanity, hasthe task o working with issues concerning tolerance,democracy and human rights. The task set by thegovernment and parliament is to strengthen peopleswillingness to work actively towards the equal valueo all people.

Exhibitions, cultural activities, teachers seminars anda broad range o materials or use in schools orm animportant part o its operations. The aim o The LivingHistory Forum is to use creative methods to stimulate

discussion and refection. It also carries out surveysabout intolerance among young people.

the : fd f huh

Nazi Germany was not alone in treading the pathtowards a racist utopia, but instead was initiallypart o the spirit o a time with roots in the racistdoctrines o the 1800s. In Sweden o the 1920s and30s, there was also a general acceptance o, andpolitical support or, the classication o people interms o their vigorousness. In an initial phase, therewas an exchange o views and a airly comprehensive

and uniorm vision among countries like Sweden,the United States and Germany concerning racialproperties and vigorousness.

With the Nazi seizure o power in Germany, Swedenstarted to distance itsel rom Nazi racial researchand ocus more on eugenics, i.e. identiying whichpeople lacked the capacity to take care o theirchildren and transer good social characteristics tothem. In practical terms, this led to the sterilisationo tens o thousands o people, primarily women,in Sweden rom the passing o a law on orced

sterilisation in 1934 until its abolition in 1975.

In a special project, The Living History Forumhighlights Swedish eugenics. What was the historicalcontext? What were the debate, legislation and policyo those who acilitated this? The project examinesthe creation o norms in society and the eect othese norms on policies, ideas and knowledge. The liestories o dierent individuals are highlighted romthe researchers behind the racial biology ideas to thegirls who were sterilised.


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On the basis o this history, visitors are given theopportunity to refect upon their own time and themeasures currently considered to be normal andto represent the best interests o the individual.These measures vary in some crucial points, but

by learning about and examining the past, we cangain perspectives on our contemporary society thatprovide ood or thought.

The project looks at the similarities and dierencesbetween the sorting procedure o the past and todaysview o normality. Questions about the situationo people with disabilities and groups exposed toprejudice and intolerance, or example Roma andSinti, are highlighted. Other questions raised aregene therapy, oetal diagnosis and scientic ethics.During the period o sterilisation, the State decided

who would be sterilised and it was carried out withdierent degrees o coercion. Today, individuals haveto make their own choices, related to a greater orlesser extent to modern genetic science that raisesnew ethical challenges. These choices are infuencedby nancial incentives and political trends, and thechoices made have eects on society. This relationshipis also discussed in the project.

sce d ce f mme:

An exhibition describes the historical context oeugenics, which students can examine. They arealso invited to discuss their thoughts on this romboth past and present-day perspectives. Theexhibition is in Stockholm and has travelled toother sites in Sweden.

Guidelines are being produced or schoolsto enable them to work independently withthese issues over a longer period. A visit to theexhibition will supplement the work.

Representatives o various minorities, as wellas disabled people, refect on the meaning onormality in short lm clips.

Finally, schools are invited to participate in aurther project in which the students themselvescan produce a lm, based on the materialexamined, exploring how they perceive normality,either historically or today.

.. se Mueum Mjdek, pd

The State Museum at Majdanek was established in

November o 1944 and is the oldest museum inEurope created on the grounds o a ormer Germanconcentration camp. From 2004, it also includes theMuseum-Memorial Site in Belzc, one o the deathcamps established by the Third Reich. Its missionis to preserve the memory o the victims o bothcamps, to document and publicise their stories and tocontribute to young peoples education about historyand society.

Making use o extensive resources archives,museum pieces, audio and video recordings and

collection o books as well as unique and authenticcamp arteacts (gas chambers, crematoria, prisonersbaths and barracks) the Museum conductseducational projects on the principles o learning byremembering and that o intercultural education.It also conducts scientic research.

le fm he he he fuue

The Polish-German joint educational project Peopleto people: we learn rom the past to shape theuture is an extra-curricular intercultural social andhistorical learning experience. It involved secondary

school students o the Gimnasium No.3 in Lublin andthe Alred-Hitz-Schule in Duisburg. Its educationalobjectives and methodology stressed active,independent study and the understanding historythrough authentic arteacts and documents. The goalwas both to deepen and to compare the knowledgeyoung Poles and Germans had o the tragic historicalevents o World War II, and to make the two groupsinteract to avoid bias and stereotyping.

As a lesson in history the students were assignedto learn the history o the Majdanek concentration

camp, o its Polish, Jewish and Belorussian underageprisoners, and those who victimised them. The projectincluded activities aimed at teaching tolerance, abilityto recognise racism, xenophobia and discriminationwhile ostering openness, empathy and solidaritywith the victims. In terms o developing skills, theproject aimed to amiliarise students with the varioushistorical narratives and the ways o interpretinghistory; helping them to think interculturally andwith a pluralistic identity. An important educationalobjective guiding the project was to have the


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students recognise the mechanics o discrimination,marginalisation and prejudice in treating others/strangers in the context o both history and the present.

The People to people programme was an attempt to

bring to lie the memory o the Nazi war crimes andits social and ethical aspects while inspiring utureactions in tune with the spirit o a dialogue o cultures.

With regard to the historical and social values, theproject contributed to developing such skills asa critical acquisition o knowledge, recognisingproblems, making ones own assessments andengaging in discussion concerning the past and thepresent. The programme attempted to combinelearning history with creating attitudes rooted indemocracy and human rights. Above all, it dealt

with combating discrimination and prejudice,the ability to handle instances o aggression andviolence, awareness o the dangers posed by socialindierence and ostering behaviours grounded insensitivity and tolerance.

Within the ramework o the project numerous goalswere reached with respect to both knowledge andattitudes. The project enabled students to acquirenew knowledge about the history o the Germanconcentration camps. They met with a witness tohistory, an invaluable source o inormation about the

time o the German occupation. The project attemptedto overcome the mental and cultural Polish-Germanstereotypes, ostered cooperation and communicationamong the participants, promoted active acquisitiono knowledge as well as desirable social and ethicalbehaviour, inquisitiveness and critical thinking. Theproject is summarised in the publication documentingthe ull programme.

sce d ce f mme:

The educational project People to peoplewas implemented in several stages. In the

introductory stage, the partners establishedinstitutional contact, agreed on a general plan oaction and distribution o tasks and selected thestudent participants.

In the preparatory phase, the partners ormulatedthe projects theme, learned what motivatedthe participants, and chose the methodologyor the work to be done. The implementationphase lasted or one week when the studentsmet in Lublin. It included a visit to the museum,workshops involving independent work and alsoa meeting with Hieronim Rybaczek, a ormerprisoner o the concentration camps. The studentsshowcased the results o their work throughletters, dramatic perormances and posters.The programmes nal evaluation covered bothcontent and educational value


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.8. Mem d Educse Hue f hewee Cfeece,

gemThe notorious Wannsee conerence on The nalsolution o the Jewish question took place in an SSguesthouse in Berlin on 20 January 1942. A memorialand educational site was established at the site in1992. It houses a permanent exhibition and library,and oers educational programmes and seminars oryoung people and adults. These programmes addressa wide variety o themes or students o dierentages and rom dierent types o school. Students areasked to choose a programme in advance according to

their own interests.

The memorial site also oers training courses orthose involved in Holocaust education and seminarsor adults o various proessions ocusing on therole and behaviour o members o their proessionalgroup during the Holocaust. Participants stay or oneor several days and are encouraged to engage inindividual research into the historical topics and toprepare presentations and discussions.

U e d muc cm

hum h

In recent years, many interesting programmes orHolocaust education have been developed. Thereis, however, a lack o concepts aiming to provide orthe needs o children and young people who areseverely disadvantaged in the existing educationalsystem, which does not provide equal opportunitiesor children rom every walk o lie and nationalbackground. These children, thereore, oten ail todevelop the expected learning skills. The Memorialand Educational Site House o the WannseeConerence has developed programmes that aim to

contribute towards ensuring these students rightto education and to strengthen their respect orthemselves and the dignity o others. For this purpose,a study day has been conceptualised that oers themopportunities to participate actively and to discover

5 This concept was developed by Constanze Jaiser and Jacob DavidPampuch, who work as reelance educators at the House o theWannsee Conerence and other institutions. It will be urtherdeveloped and evaluated with the support o the FoundationRemembrance, Responsibility, Future.

their creative capabilities. This deals with poems andsongs written in secret by inmates o the Ravensbrckconcentration camp and also makes use o otherresistance documents rom the camp and interviewswith survivors to p

Documents

Holocaust Education Overview Practices En