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Some 80 years ago, the most catastrophic mass atrocity in modern history took place. Centuries of Jewish life and culture in Europe were almost completely wiped out in just four years. Fueled by antisemitic ideology, the Nazis set out to hunt down, humiliate, persecute, and ultimately murder every Jewish man, woman, and child on the continent.
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Adding the study of the Holocaust and genocide to the social studies curriculum is justified on multiple grounds. The first is simply an historical rationale: students are expected to learn about and understand critical events of the past, and how those events have shaped our world. Studying other genocides leads students to recognize that those horrors were not confined to one episode, and may indeed represent an enduring tendency throughout human history.
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The second justification is a democratic rationale, which recognizes that the Holocaust and episodes of genocide have almost always been projects of the state, and therefore reflect moments of political failure. Some of those failures, including the run-up to the Holocaust, involved efforts to pervert the democratic process. Other genocides—such as the events in Rwanda—demonstrate the danger of weak democracies, authoritarianism, and compromised citizenship. Victim groups in genocide have almost always been declared to be, in some way, unworthy of the inclusion in the body politic and therefore undeserving of the protection of the state. Teaching the Holocaust and genocide shows how democratic institutions and values are not automatically sustained, but need to be appreciated, nurtured, and protected.
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A third justification is the preventative rationale, wherein students learn about possible means of preventing the scourge of genocide. These include international actions, including the concept of humanitarian intervention (including the 2005 policy adopted by the United Nations, which is known as “the responsibility to protect”). Ultimately, the study of the Holocaust and genocide serves as a warning of the dangers of being silent or indifferent to the suffering of others.
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Finally, there is an important commemorative rationale to the study of the Holocaust and genocide. By definition, perpetrators of genocide (including the Nazi regime) sought the erasure of entire identity groups. To study the Holocaust and genocide is to acknowledge the value of those groups, to maintain their vitality, and to honor the memories of those who perished.
