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“What Happened to Their Pets?”: Third Graders Encounter the Holocaust Though widely believed to contain moral lessons of import for audiences of all ages, the Holocaust is often considered too complex, too appalling, too impenetrable, or too emotionally disturbing a subject to be taught to young children, even if taught only in its most “preparatory version,” to use Jerome Bruner’s famous phrasing. The subject matter, after all, deals at its core with human brutality, barbarous indifference, and industrialized mass murder. Nonetheless, a burgeoning market in materials designed to expose young children to the Holocaust implies that students are learning about the topic in earlier and earlier grades, a phenomenon that may be referred to as “curricular creep.” Such a trend raises the question of whether students should be exposed, purposefully and formally, to the horrors of the Holocaust, or, conversely, whether curricular creep should be somehow corralled. Although authors have weighed in on the ethics of Holocaust education, its history, practices, and materials, few have discussed its rightful place in the elementary school curriculum. Fewer still have empirically examined what the Holocaust looks like when taught to a young audience. (By the author) The Holocaust Museum as an Educational Resource: A View from New York City This article deals with the role of the Holocaust museum as an educational resource. It presents a case study of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City and considers its strengths and weaknesses in the light of research into how the Holocaust is taught in British and North American high schools. Among other things, the research shows that Jewish history tends to be equated with persecution and that anti-Semitism and the role of the church in sustaining it are often ignored. It further shows superficial treatment of a range of topics including Jewish resistance, rescue and the fate of non-Jewish minorities under the Nazis. The article pays particular attention to the way the museum deals with these issues and with the question of Jewish renewal in the post-Holocaust period. (By the author) A ‘Curtain of Ignorance’: An Analysis of Holocaust Portrayal in Textbooks from 1943 through 1959 If textbooks are supposed to be an honest and impartial portrayal of historical events, they should remain the same over time. However, when examining one event across different editions of the same textbook, it becomes apparent that this is not the case. This study seeks to examine how the beginnings of the Cold War may have influenced how the Holocaust was discussed during the 1940s and 1950s. Results indicate that as Germany transformed from an enemy to be defeated into an ally needed to stop the advance of Communism, discussion of the Holocaust became more muted. While the beginnings of the Cold War may not be the only factor in this phenomenon, the results of this study indicate a methodological process in which textbooks could be used to create critical and historical thinking in today's classroom. (By the author) The Holocaust and Education for Citizenship: the teaching of history, religion and human rights in England The importance of the Holocaust is undeniable. It seems that this truism has long been accepted by teachers and education policy makers. A superficial prediction would be that the Holocaust will continue to have both a high profile and a high status in the schools and colleges of England and Wales. However, on the basis of small‐scale work using data from teachers’ perceptions, we draw attention to certain problems in learning about the Holocaust and begin to suggest issues which should be investigated further. The issues which need further investigation are related to the possibilities that there may be too little time devoted to teaching about the Holocaust; the events of the Holocaust may sometimes be used as a mere context for understanding World War Two; teachers may not perceive the Holocaust as being significantly unique; teachers may not collaborate effectively; there may be a lack of clarity about the nature of the affective and cognitive aims of such work. (By the author) Naming and misnaming the nation. Ambivalence and national belonging in German textbook representations of the Holocaust At a time when the power of schools and both state and federal education authorities to guide young people’s sense of belonging is being challenged by multilingualism, by the claims of supra- and subnational regions and minorities, by memories of national catastrophes and crimes, and by out-of-school educational media, this collection of essays provides an apposite exploration of the ways in which shared narratives continue to be transmitted and learned. Its authors, whose work emerged from a series of conferences organized by the French National Institute for Pedagogical Research in Lyon, Barcelona and Paris in 2010, demonstrate not only ways in which multiple disciplines (including history, literature, social and language studies) address young people’s sense of attachment, but also how challenges to educational policy are reflected in school textbooks and curricula in Algeria, Bulgaria, Catalonia, France, Galicia, Germany, Quebec, Senegal and the USA. These studies about the role of education in relation to largely tenacious but shifting national identities should appeal to specialists of education, nationalism studies, history and political science. (By the author) Israeli and Diaspora Students Travel to the Holocaust Sites in Poland: The Impact on the Perceptions of the Holocaust, Jewish Identity, and Israel-Diaspora Ties The Ministry of Education encourages Israeli students to visit sites of historic Jewish communities in Poland and the sites of Nazi death camps. The trip is designed to reinforce the youngsters’ sense of belonging to the Jewish people, their connection to and identification with Jewish heritage and history, and their commitment to the future of Jewish life in Israel and its sovereignty. This study explores the impact of trips to Poland, organized by Tachlit Center, on Israeli and overseas university students. The vast majority of participants confirm that the trip emphasizes the important role of the Holocaust memory and commemoration. Findings on the impact of Holocaust education on other Israeli and Jewish values (e.g., the significance of immigration to Israel and ties to the Jewish Diaspora) are discussed, along with the implications for future Holocaust education programs. (By the author) Teaching the Shoah in History Classes in Israeli High Schools The Shoah is the only subject in the school curriculum that is anchored in the 1980 Compulsory State Educational Law, and is therefore an important integral part in the school history curriculum. Since the Shoah is part of the Israeli collective memory and has a substantial presence in its public discourse, it has been a didactic challenge for the composers of the curricula. This article examines the teaching of a curriculum set in 2000 to implement a new educational policy that emphasizes acquiring knowledge, disciplinary skills, and historical concepts rather than values and sentiments. It looks into teaching itself by studying official and unofficial textbooks, exams, and summaries in four subjects: central themes in former curricula (armed resistance, steadfastness, ghettos, and the participants), new themes in historical research (work, regional studies, the "other"), integration of Jewish and general history, and academic skills (processes, documents). (By the author) Exploring pupil perceptions of Jews, Jewish identity and the Holocaust This paper argues that effective Holocaust education involves exploring pupils' perceptions of Jews and Jewish identity. Identifying these preconceptions is necessary for combating anti-Semitism, challenging misconceptions and facilitating a historically accurate understanding of the Holocaust. How do pupils define the Jews and what it is that makes someone Jewish? How do pupils explain the causes of the Holocaust and why it was that the Nazi regime specifically targeted Jews? The empirical basis of this paper attempts to help answer these questions. One hundred and forty seven children aged 13 and 14 took part in mixed-method research in order to explore their ideas and concepts of Jewish identity and why the Holocaust took place. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings for Holocaust education. (By the author) 
The Rhetoric of Teaching: Understanding the Dynamics of Holocaust Narratives in an English Classroom This volume examines the nature and influence of oral teacher narratives in a single instructional unit. The analyses focus on narrative data that the author generated during a 6-week thematic unit that was taught by a third year teacher in a public middle school. The topic of the Holocaust was chosen because it was well suited for the exploration of oral narrative; the author examines how one teacher rhetorically shaped “knowing about the Holocaust” in her language arts classroom. Because teaching is analyzed through a rhetorical lens, the book is situated at the intersection of classroom discourse studies, rhetoric and composition, and sociolinguistic approaches to narrative. (By the publisher) Challenging stereotypes and avoiding the superficial: A suggested approach to teaching the Holocaust Alison Kitson provides a rationale for a scheme of work for Year 9 (13-14 year olds). She argues that teachers should analyse the kind of historical learning that is taking place when the Holocaust is studied. Critical of the assumption that learning will take place as a result of exposure, she argues that teachers need to think about learning outcomes and to explore how these connect and support each other. She draws upon the types of historical thinking specified by the National Curriculum in England and shows how these can link up with areas of knowledge that pupils need if they are to understand the context of the Holocaust. Like Kate Hammond, she argues that emotional, human response and moral learning can and should be involved in teaching the Holocaust and that this can support ‒ rather than detract from ‒ rigorous historical analysis of sources and causes. (By the publisher)