We need more and better Holocaust education

I write this article as a person who has been trained as a history teacher. I’m not Jewish. I’m Christian. However, I am writing because I feel as though there is a need to discuss the reasons for why we need more and better Holocaust education in Australian schools.

Recently, it was International Holocaust Remembrance Day which marked the 77th anniversary of the liberation of detainees who were kept inside the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

The news coverage of the event showed survivors who bravely shared their stories of how they were brutally ill-treated by the Nazis and how they managed to survive. The news coverage also highlighted the fact that there is a dwindling number of survivors of the Holocaust who are alive today.

It will therefore be a responsibility for people in the world to make sure that their memories and their legacy survives.

Furthermore, it is important for people to ensure that the documentation of events that verify the reality and existence of the Holocaust is preserved and is taught to the next generation of people.

It is also important to highlight that it was not just Jews that were horrendously treated in these concentration camps, but also people from other groups in society who did not fit into the Nazi ideal.

The recent Gandel study, conducted by Deakin University on the knowledge and awareness of the Holocaust, surveyed more than 3500 Australians from all states and territories and who represented a variety of age groups.

The results showed that almost a quarter of those who were assessed had little to no knowledge of Holocaust. The millennial age group made up for a significant percentage of those who lacked knowledge.

Approximately only half of those who were surveyed were able to correctly state the number of Jews that were murdered. Furthermore, the results showed that Australians lacked an understanding of Australia’s own connections to the Holocaust.

These alarming results really highlight the need to push for more and better Holocaust education in Australian schools.

Holocaust education is mandatory in the NSW and Victoria state curriculums in years 9 and 10. It is also included in the Australian curriculum. However, teachers of stage 5 history are under extreme pressure and have to cover a lot of content.

Many schools don’t allocate enough time for topics such as the Holocaust to be covered in-depth. This means that the teaching of the Holocaust is completed under an intense time constraint. It also means that students are more likely to get an overview rather than a deep sense of knowledge about the Holocaust and empathy for those who were persecuted. They are therefore less likely to retain the information.

It should also be noted that many teachers who teach history in high schools are not trained to teach in the area. Another barrier to teaching about the Holocaust is that it is a graphically horrific topic that may impact students. However, it is important that the Holocaust gets taught so that students have knowledge of the evils that human society is capable of committing (History is after all a humanities subject).

It is great that most states in Australia have Jewish museums in the major cities that aim to preserve the history of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. These museums are places where thousands of school students visit each year to hear stories from those who survived the Holocaust and came to Australia.

In year 12, I visited the Sydney Jewish Museum and it was a memorable and impactful experience. Admittedly, visiting museums is a barrier for schools that are located in regional and rural areas and the COVID restrictions that prevented excursions added a further barrier. However, I do acknowledge that the Jewish Museum in Sydney (as well as in other cities I’m sure) has made a conscious effort to utilise technology and reach out to as many students as possible during this COVID period.

There are many reasons for why having deeper knowledge of the Holocaust is vital. It helps people to develop a sense of empathy for the groups of people around the world who are currently being persecuted. It helps people to develop respect for people of all different and diverse religious and cultural backgrounds. It would help in making sure that an event as horrific never takes place again.

In our world today where there is still mass religious and ethnic persecution, we can already see instances of where the lessons from the Holocaust clearly haven’t been learned. It is therefore important to push for more and better Holocaust education in schools.

Jemina Moss is a teacher in Baradine, NSW