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West German secondary school education on the Holocaust

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Date Issued:
1998
Summary:
After World War II, Germany lay in ruins, both physically and morally. The Allies attempted denazification, but were unable to completely reform the educational system. Cold War exigencies dictated that lessons on the Nazi era, particularly the cruelties of the Holocaust, be soft-pedaled. While some German politicians urged greater openness, collective amnesia reigned for over a decade. Early texts showed Germans as mesmerized by Hitler, who, together with a few henchmen, was responsible for the mass murders. Gradually, as democracy took root in West Germany, educators responded to the changing political culture by teaching more of the true nature of Nazism. Each decade brought significant improvements in textual coverage as an ethos developed about the need to transmit Germany's recent ugly history. Teaching methods expanded to include field trips to a growing number of memorial centers and special projects which involved students on a personal and emotional level. Today, Germany's commitment to teaching youth about antisemitism and the Holocaust is to be commended for its thoroughness.
Title: West German secondary school education on the Holocaust.
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Name(s): Vann, Martin Eric.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Kollander, Patricia A., Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1998
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 160 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: After World War II, Germany lay in ruins, both physically and morally. The Allies attempted denazification, but were unable to completely reform the educational system. Cold War exigencies dictated that lessons on the Nazi era, particularly the cruelties of the Holocaust, be soft-pedaled. While some German politicians urged greater openness, collective amnesia reigned for over a decade. Early texts showed Germans as mesmerized by Hitler, who, together with a few henchmen, was responsible for the mass murders. Gradually, as democracy took root in West Germany, educators responded to the changing political culture by teaching more of the true nature of Nazism. Each decade brought significant improvements in textual coverage as an ethos developed about the need to transmit Germany's recent ugly history. Teaching methods expanded to include field trips to a growing number of memorial centers and special projects which involved students on a personal and emotional level. Today, Germany's commitment to teaching youth about antisemitism and the Holocaust is to be commended for its thoroughness.
Identifier: 9780591930023 (isbn), 15585 (digitool), FADT15585 (IID), fau:12345 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1998.
Subject(s): Education, Secondary--Germany (West)
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in textbooks--Germany (West)
Germany (West)--Education (secondary)
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15585
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.