Holocaust education between history and memory: survey, analysis, and critique

Since the 1980s, Holocaust education has become widespread in the USA, Europe, and Israel, in various educational frameworks. Motives for Holocaust study have evolved from simply "it should be taught because it happened" to more sophisticated goals - prevention of genocides in the future, promotion of tolerance and respect for the "other", democracy, improvement of society, etc. The extension of the aims of Holocaust education and competing goals of different agencies of memory and commemoration have burdened it with many problems and tensions, e.g. the tension between history and memory. Notes two trends in Holocaust education: the first, prevalent in Europe and Israel, is based on history; the second, characteristic of the USA, places "moral education" and relevance at the center and views Holocaust history as a means. Believes that both approaches can be justified; it is doubtful that a detached, purely academic approach can be useful in Holocaust education.