Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Research into Textbook Portrayals of National Socialism and the Holocaust

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Textbook Studies

  • 2737 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter analysed 37 textbook studies focusing on portrayals of National Socialism and/or the Holocaust in international research conducted between 1962 and 2015. Analysis of these studies revealed a range of perspectives and approaches and differences in content choice, purpose, scope, chronological span, and geographical coverage. Although some innovative and exemplary practice was evidenced, many studies failed to clearly articulate a guiding rationale and purpose. Furthermore, studies often provided only limited reference to how theory and theoretical perspectives shaped the research process, and explicit reference to methodological procedures varied in degree and quality. A key feature of the chapter, therefore, is the identification of examples of strong and interesting practice and the development of recommendations for future studies underpinned by clear rationales, theoretical frameworks, and methodological procedures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 259.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The reference to time periods does not imply any preconceived or agreed-upon notion of what a time period is. Rather, it indicates whether or not researchers were interested in exploring change and continuity over time.

  2. 2.

    For a detailed discussion of international trends in textbooks’ treatment of the Holocaust, see Pingel (2014).

  3. 3.

    Towards this end, the work of Bourdillon (1992), Crawford (2000), Mikk (2000), Nicholls (2003), Pingel (1999), and Weinbrenner (1992) provide a good starting point.

References

Textbook Studies Analysed

  • Ambrosewicz-Jacobs, J. S., & Szuchta, R. (2014). The Intricacies of Education About the Holocaust in Poland. Ten Years After the Jedwabne Debate, What Can Polish School Students Learn About the Holocaust in History Classes? Intercultural Education, 25(4), 283–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bărbulescu, A., Degeratu, L., & Guşu, C. (2013). The Holocaust as Reflected in Communist and Post-Communist Romanian Textbooks. Intercultural Education, 24(1–2), 41–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beresniova, C. (2014). An Unimagined Community? Examining Narratives of the Holocaust in Lithuanian Textbooks. In J. H. Williams (Ed.), (Re)Constructing Memory: School Textbooks and the Imagination of the Nation. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bromley, P., & Russell, S. G. (2010). The Holocaust as History and Human Rights: A Cross-National Analysis of Holocaust Education in Social Science Textbooks, 1970–2008. Prospects: UNESCO’s Quarterly Review of Comparative Education, 40(1), 153–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bunn, R. F. (1962). Treatment of Hitler’s Rise to Power in West German School Textbooks. Comparative Education Review, 6(1), 34–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrier, P., Fuchs, E., & Messinger, T. (2015). The International Status of Education About the Holocaust: A Global Mapping of Textbooks and Curricula. Paris and Braunschweig: UNESCO/Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, K., & Foster, S. J. (2007). War, Nation, Memory: International Perspectives on World War II in School History Textbooks. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Detwiler, D. S. (1982). National Socialism, World War II and the Holocaust: A Case Study of American History Textbook Interpretations. Internationale Schulbuchforschung, 4(2–3), 149–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dietsch, J. (2012). Textbooks and the Holocaust in Independent Ukraine. European Education, 44(3), 67–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, J. (1997). Treatment of the Holocaust in Western and World Civilization Textbooks: An Update. Schofar, 15(2), 64–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Firer, R. (1987). The Holocaust in History Textbooks. In R. L. Braham (Ed.), The Treatment of the Holocaust in Textbooks: The Federal Republic of Germany, Israel, the United States of America. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, S., & Burgess, A. (2013). Problematic Portrayals and Contentious Content: Representations of the Holocaust in English History Textbooks. Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society, 5(2), 20–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frankl, G. (2003). Holocaust Education in the Czech Republic, 1989–2002. Intercultural Education, 14(2), 177–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frohnert, P. (2006). “We Want to Learn from the Past.” The Holocaust in German History Schoolbooks Before and After Reunification. In K. G. Karlsson & U. Zander (Eds.), The Holocaust on Post-War Battlefields. Genocide as Historical Culture. Malmö: Sekel Bokförlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, S., & McAndrew, M. (2014). The Holocaust in the Textbooks and in the History and Citizenship Education Program in Quebec. Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society, 6(1), 24–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanter, L. (1998). Forgetting to Remember: Presenting the Holocaust in American College Social Science and History Textbooks. Fulbright-Hays Summer Seminars Abroad Program.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korman, G. (1970). Silence in American Textbooks. Yad Vashem Studies, 8, 183–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kraemer, D., & Stassen, M. (1994). Europe in U.S. Social Studies Textbooks: A Case Study on Germany in the Textbooks. In J. F. Harris & F. Metcalf (Eds.), Germany and Europe Since World War II: Resources for Teachers. Bloomington, IN: ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lässig, S., & Pohl, K. H. (2009). History Textbooks and Historical Scholarship in Germany. History Workshop Journal, 67, 125–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindquist, D. (2009). The Coverage of the Holocaust in High School History Textbooks. Social Education, 73(6), 298–304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michaels, D. L. (2013). Holocaust Education in the “Black Hole of Europe”: Slovakia’s Identity Politics and History Textbooks Pre- and Post-1989. Intercultural Education, 24(1–2), 19–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, K. (2005). Imagining the Anti-Racist State: Representations of Racism in Canadian History Textbooks. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 26(4), 427–442.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, K. (2006). Racialised Hegemony and Nationalist Mythologies: Representations of War and Peace in High School History Textbooks, 1945–2005. Journal of Peace Education, 3(1), 19–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, K. (2012). From Auschwitz to Apartheid—Conceptual Representations in History Textbooks. Education as Change, 16(1), 3–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, K. (2015). Learning Empathy Through School History Textbooks? A Case Study. Rethinking History: The Journal of Theory and Practice, 19(3), 370–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pate, G. (1987). The Holocaust in American Textbooks. In R. L. Braham (Ed.), The Treatment of the Holocaust in Textbooks: The Federal Republic of Germany, Israel, the United States of America. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pauca, B. M. (2011). Teaching Trauma and Responsibility: World War II in West German History Textbooks. New German Critique, 38(1), 135–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perlmutter, D. D. (2009). Re-visions of the Holocaust: Textbook Images and Historical Myth-Making. Howard Journal of Communications, 8(2), 151–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pingel, F. (2006). From Evasion to a Crucial Tool of Moral and Political Education: Teaching National Socialism and the Holocaust in Germany. In S. J. Foster & K. A. Crawford (Eds.), What Shall We Tell the Children? International Perspectives on School History Textbooks. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renn, W. F. (1987). Textbooks: Treatment of the Holocaust and Related Themes. In R. L. Braham (Ed.), The Treatment of the Holocaust in Textbooks: The Federal Republic of Germany, Israel, the United States of America. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schӓr, B. C., & Sperisen, V. (2010). Switzerland and the Holocaust: Teaching Contested History. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 42(5), 649–669.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Short, G. (2000). Holocaust Education in Ontario High Schools: An Antidote to Racism? Cambridge Journal of Education, 30(2), 291–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Short, G. (2001). Confronting the Holocaust in Religious Education. Journal of Beliefs and Values: Studies in Religion and Education, 22(1), 41–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Von Borries, B. (2003). The Third Reich in German History Textbooks Since 1945. Journal of Contemporary History, 38, 45–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waldman, F. (2009). Der Holocaust in den post-kommunistischen rumӓnischen Schulbuchern. In W. Benz & B. Mihok (Eds.), Holocaust an der Peripherie: Judenpolitik und Judenmord in Rumӓnien und Transnistrien 1940–1944. Berlin: Metropol Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenzeler, B. (2003). The Presentation of the Holocaust in German and English School History Textbooks—A Comparative Study. International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research, 3(2), 107–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Witschonke, C. (2013). A “Curtain of Ignorance”: An Analysis of Holocaust Portrayal in Textbooks from 1943 Through 1959. The Social Studies, 104, 146–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Bibliography

  • Bourdillon, H. (1992). History and Social Studies—Methodologies of Textbook Analysis. Amsterdam: Swets and Zeitlinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, K. (2000). Researching the Ideological and Political Role of the History Textbook—Issues and Methods. International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research, 1(1), 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, K. (2001). Constructing National Memory: The 1940/41 Blitz in British History Textbooks, Internationale Schulbuchforschung (Vol. 21). Hanover: Verlag Hahnsche Buchhandlung.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, S. (2005). The British Empire and Commonwealth in World War II: Selection and Omission in English History Textbooks. International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research, 5, 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, S., & Morris, J. (1994). Arsenal of Righteousness?—Treatment of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima in English and U.S. History Textbooks. Curriculum, 5(3), 163–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnsen, E. (1993). Textbooks in the Kaleidoscope: A Critical Survey of Literature and Research on Educational Texts. Oslo: Scandinavian University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinloch, N. (1998). Review Essay: Learning About the Holocaust: Moral or Historical Question? Teaching History, 93, 44–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mertens, D. (1998). Research Methods in Education and Psychology: Integrating Diversity with Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mikk, J. (2000). Textbook: Research and Writing. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirkovic, M., & Crawford, K. (2003). Teaching History in Serbian and English Secondary Schools: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Textbooks. International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research, 3(2), 91–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls, J. (2003). Methods in School Textbook Research. International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research, 3(2), 11–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls, J. (2005). The Philosophical Underpinnings of School Textbook Research. Paradigm, 3(1), 24–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls, J. (2006). School History Textbooks Across Cultures: International Debates and Perspectives. Oxford: Symposium.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pettigrew, A., Foster, S., Howson, J., Salmons, P., Lenga, R., & Andrews, K. (2009). Teaching About the Holocaust in English Secondary School: An Empirical Study of National Trends, Perspectives and Practice. London: Institute of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pingel, F. (1999). UNESCO Guidebook on Textbook Research and Textbook Revision. Hanover: Verlag Hahnsche Buchhandlung.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pingel, F. (2014). The Holocaust in Textbooks: From a European to a Global Event. In K. Fracapane & M. Haß (Eds.), Holocaust Education in a Global Context. Berlin: UNESCO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, L. (2006). Teaching the Holocaust in School History. London and New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sleeter, C., & Grant, C. (1991). Race, Class, Gender and Disability in Current Textbooks. In M. Apple & L. Christian-Smith (Eds.), The Politics of the Textbook. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vickers, E. (2006). Defining the Boundaries of “Chineseness”: Tibet, Mongolia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in Mainland History Textbooks. In S. J. Foster & K. A. Crawford (Eds.), What Shall We Tell the Children? International Perspectives on School History Textbooks. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinbrenner, P. (1992). Methodologies of Textbook Analysis Used to Date. In H. Bourdillon (Ed.), History and Social Studies—Methodologies of Textbook Analysis. Amsterdam: Swets and Zeitlinger.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. UCL Centre for Holocaust Education, London, UK

    Stuart Foster & Eleni Karayianni

Authors
  1. Stuart Foster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eleni Karayianni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Georg Eckert Institute - Leibniz-Institute for International Textbook Research, Braunschweig, Germany

    Eckhardt Fuchs

  2. Georg Eckert Institute - Leibniz-Institute for International Textbook Research, Braunschweig, Germany

    Annekatrin Bock

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Foster, S., Karayianni, E. (2018). Research into Textbook Portrayals of National Socialism and the Holocaust. In: Fuchs, E., Bock, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Textbook Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53142-1_19

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53142-1_19

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53141-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-53142-1

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation