 |
|||||||||
     |
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
| You are here: 2000 / Workshops, Panels and Seminars / Workshops on Research / Workshop 1 on Research, Teaching About the Holocaust in the University Sector / Presentation by Professor Dan Michman | |||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
Participants Countries and organizations Conference documentation Conference programme 
|
|
|
|
Report from Workshop 1 on Research: "Teaching About the Holocaust in the University Sector" Presentation by Mrs. Janice L. Darsa Presentation by Dr. Debórah Dwork Presentation by Professor Norbert Frei Presentation by Dr. Beate Kosmala Presentation by Dr. Marcia Sachs Littell Presentation by Professor Dan Michman Presentation by Professor Dan Michman Michman, Dan Presentation by Professor Dan Michman There can be no worldwide standard "recipe" for teaching about the Holocaust. First, "the Holocaust" is a topic, not a discipline, and thus cannot be situated in one certain discipline. Actually, much teaching today about the topic, especially in colleges throughout the United States, starts with literature, such as Elie Wiesel’s Night or Primo Levi’s The Drowned and the Saved - not with history proper. Second, teaching – especially of history – is always context-related and dependent on former knowledge (usually gained through high school teaching). Teaching the topic in or outside Europe cannot be the same (as in Europe memories of the Second World War are still very much existent). Similarly, there cannot be any deep understanding of the Holocaust if students do not have some former knowledge about Jews and Judaism and their place in western civilization (for instance, children visiting the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. are first introduced to some basics about the Jewish People). In any case, I believe any teaching or discussion of "The Holocaust" on the academic level should be based on some basic historical background knowledge (1) on Jews and Judaism; (2) on traditional Christian/European attitudes towards Jews and Judaism; and (3) on the economic, social and political upheaval caused by modernity (secularization, modern nationalism and the industrial revolution). Otherwise it will be impossible to explain the following basic issues: - Why precisely the numerically insignificant Jews were singled out by the Nazis; - Why indifference by non-Nazis to the Jews’ fate was so widespread; - What led an advanced European society to an apocalyptic extremism that revolted against the other face of European modernism, i.e. that of humanism (equality and mutual understanding); and - - How the murder of the Jews could be carried out in an industrial, streamlined and bureaucratic orderly mode.
Consequently, if former acquaintance with these aspects is missing, they should be included as an introductory chapter in any academic Holocaust teaching. The Holocaust is a capsulated historical example of relations between human beings in extremis. As such, it serves in retrospect as a kind of laboratory for disciplines of all social sciences and the humanities. I do not think every university should have a chair in Holocaust studies, as this would unnecessarily spread resources over too many institutions. Rather, universities should have at least one course on the Holocaust at the graduate level, or Holocaust programs as a framework for courses touching upon this topic from various disciplines. Major chairs and/or institutes for (interdisciplinary) Holocaust research should be established at universities in central places and having reasonable financial resources at their disposal. Courses about the Holocaust are taught at many universities throughout the world. However, the major teaching as well as research centers are Germany, Israel and the United States. Generally speaking, these three focus on different aspects of the Holocaust picture. German and German-language research focuses almost entirely on the perpetrator aspect. Israeli research focuses mainly on the Jewish aspect, i.e.: the Jewish victims of Nazi persecution and the Jewish bystanders in the free world. North American and English-language research today (during the 1950s through the mid-1970s this was somewhat different) focuses on policies towards the Third Reich by free world governments and organizations, rescue issues, and (private or collective) memory of the Holocaust. In most cases, these three aspects are not really integrated (the most lacking one being the Jewish aspect) due to a lack of knowledge of the many languages needed for integrative and comparative research. The enhancement of integrative, multi-faceted and international understanding of the Holocaust can be achieved only through the raising of a new generation of researchers with a wide knowledge of languages. This can be done if students at the graduate level could be attracted to the issue – through funding and fellowships at major research >> Back to top |
|
|
|
Introduction Opening Session: Messages and speeches Plenary Sessions: Messages and speeches Workshops, Panels and Seminars
Other Activities |
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
| For information about this production and the Stockholm International Forum Conference Series please go to www.humanrights.gov.se or contact Information Rosenbad, SE-103 33 Stockholm, Sweden | |||||||||