Abstract
This chapter examines Holocaust education in secondary school social science textbooks around the world since 1970, using data coded from 465 textbooks from 69 countries. It finds that books and countries that are more connected to world society and have an accompanying emphasis on human rights, diversity in society, and a depiction of international, rather than national, society are more likely to discuss the Holocaust. Additionally, textbooks from Western countries contain more discussion of the Holocaust, although the rate is increasing in Eastern European and other non-Western countries, suggesting eventual convergence. The study also found a shift in the nature of discussion, from a historical event to a violation of human rights or crime against humanity. These findings broadly support the arguments of neo-institutional theories that the social and cultural realms of the contemporary world are increasingly globalized and that notions of human rights are a central feature of world society.
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Acknowledgements
This chapter is based on Bromley and Garnett (2010). A version of the hierarchical linear model included in this chapter was developed for a related project in a seminar conducted by Anthony Bryk, whose comments were most helpful. Work on this study was funded by a grant from the Spencer Foundation (200600003). The paper benefited from the related studies of members of Stanford’s Comparative Workshop. We are particularly grateful to John Meyer and Francisco Ramirez for their comments. The study was possible only because of the impressive textbook collection of the Georg Eckert Institute, in Braunschweig, and the extraordinarily helpful assistance of Brigitte Depner and her staff. In addition, we thank individual colleagues who helped us collect textbooks, including Dijana Tiplic, Suk Ying Wong, Rennie Moon, David Suárez, Marine Chitashvili, Pepka Boyadjieva, Shushanik Makaryan, Marika Korotkova, Gili Drori, Sandra Staklis, Marina Andina, Jaime Quevedo, Nii Addy, Magdalena Gross, and Rebecca Taylor.
Appendices
Appendices
Appendix A: List of Textbooks by Country over Time
1970–1984 | 1985–1994 | 1995–2006 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Argentina | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
Armenia | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
Australia | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
Austria | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 |
Belarus | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Belgium | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
Bolivia | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0 | 1 | 8 | 9 |
Bulgaria | 8 | 4 | 4 | 16 |
Canada | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
Colombia | 1 | 6 | 0 | 7 |
Costa Rica | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
Croatia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Czechoslovakia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
Denmark | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Ecuador | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
El Salvador | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Ethiopia | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Finland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
France | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
Georgia | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
Germany | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Ghana | 0 | 8 | 6 | 14 |
Greece | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
Guatemala | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Guyana | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
India | 3 | 2 | 9 | 14 |
Indonesia | 0 | 0 | 12 | 12 |
Iran | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
Ireland | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 |
Israel | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
Italy | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
Japan | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
Kenya | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Latvia | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Macedonia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Malawi | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Mexico | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
Namibia | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Nepal | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
Nicaragua | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
North Korea | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
Northern Ireland | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Norway | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
PR China | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Pakistan | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Panama | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Philippines | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
Portugal | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Romania | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
Russia | 0 | 4 | 23 | 27 |
Serbia | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Singapore | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Slovenia | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
South Africa | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
South Korea | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
Spain | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 |
Sweden | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Switzerland | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
Taiwan | 0 | 1 | 12 | 13 |
Tanzania | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
Tunisia | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Turkey | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
USA | 3 | 6 | 3 | 12 |
USSR | 14 | 12 | 0 | 26 |
United Kingdom | 7 | 5 | 11 | 23 |
Venezuela | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Yugoslavia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
Total | 97 | 150 | 218 | 465 |
Appendix B: Countries Discussing the Holocaust and Holocaust as Human Rights Violation
Discuss Holocaust | Discuss Holocaust as human rights violation |
|---|---|
Argentina | Argentina |
Armenia | Armenia |
Australia | Australia |
Austria | Belarus |
Belarus | Bulgaria |
Belgium | Canada |
Bulgaria | Croatia |
Canada | Czechoslovakia |
Croatia | Denmark |
Czechoslovakia | El Salvador |
Denmark | France |
El Salvador | Georgia |
Finland | Greece |
France | India |
Georgia | Indonesia |
Germany | Ireland |
Greece | Norway |
India | Romania |
Indonesia | Russia |
Ireland | Serbia |
Israel | Slovenia |
Italy | Spain |
Japan | Sweden |
Latvia | Taiwan |
Malawi | Tanzania |
Mexico | Tunisia |
Norway | United Kingdom |
Philippines | United States |
Portugal | |
Romania | |
Russia | |
Serbia | |
Slovenia | |
South Africa | |
Spain | |
Sweden | |
Switzerland | |
Taiwan | |
Tanzania | |
Tunisia | |
United Kingdom | |
United States |
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Bromley, P., Russell, S.G. (2015). The Holocaust as History and Human Rights: A Cross-National Analysis of Holocaust Education in Social Science Textbooks, 1970–2008. In: Gross, Z., Stevick, E. (eds) As the Witnesses Fall Silent: 21st Century Holocaust Education in Curriculum, Policy and Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15419-0_17
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