Learning from genocide? A study in the failure of Holocaust education

Abstract

The importance of learning lessons from the Holocaust and from the mass slaughter in Rwanda was recognised in the theme underpinning Britain's Holocaust Memorial Day in 2004. This article is principally concerned with the lessons learnt from the Holocaust by a culturally diverse group of students aged 14 to 16. They all attended schools in an outer London borough and were interviewed after taking part in a local event held to mark the 2004 commemoration. The article concludes with a discussion of the main findings of the investigation.

Notes

1. While it is possible to talk about differences between schools, it is important to realise that any such differences reflect a multiplicity of factors and not just the influence of religion or ethnicity. In this study, it is not possible to isolate students' cultural identity and assess its impact on the overall findings.