So when I was at a workshop with the Human Rights Institute last year, I ate lunch with a Holocaust and Genocide teacher from somewhere in central Jersey.  It was post presidential election and I asked a question about how to deal with the ramifications of the election and what we are trying to teach the students as far as lessons from the Holocaust and genocides over history.  He seemed to not see a problem with the election results regarding oppression of any group or the ensuing spread of hate.  The conversational lunch stopped dead in its tracks.  I had a very uneasy feeling from him after my comment and question.

Then I got to thinking about all the hundreds of kids from where I teach who proudly go through the same class.  Then I think about the things I see them post online.  And I wonder if there is a disconnect.  But it could have been my paranoid opinion taking over.

Then I read this article in The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2016/jan/27/do-we-need-to-rethink-how-we-teach-the-holocaust

Yes, the article addresses deficiencies in the British program, but I see parallels.  There seems to be a good understanding of why the Holocaust and genocides are horrible, no idea of what led to such events.  This quote says it well:

“The Holocaust is too often turned into vague lessons of the danger of hatred or prejudice at the expense of really trying to understand the reasons and motivations for the genocide.”

Our students are not understanding the attitudes and manipulations that lead to the societal behaviours and beliefs that can allow a genocides to happen.  They believe specific individuals and major players in history books are the sole reason or impetus.  That is so far from the truth.  I can tell because of how many H&G alumni have the same kinds of behaviours:  believing generalizations about members of society; repeating stereotypes about who is the victim and who is the taker; beliefs about themselves being a part of an oppressed part of society, when their race is the one doing the oppressing.

What is the benefit of Holocaust education in any country or school if the students are not learning lessons about what led up to the event?  What are they really learning if those who survived a genocide are giving warning signals that things seem familiar but teachers of that class play devil's advocate for the oppressing side or do not want to engage in a discussion of the events happening around us?

We are teaching our students nothing but fake awareness.  But it sure looks good on paper.