View the h-holocaust Discussion Logs by month
View the Prior Message in h-holocaust's July 1996 logs by: [date] [author] [thread] View the Next Message in h-holocaust's July 1996 logs by: [date] [author] [thread] Visit the h-holocaust home page.
I?d like to thank H-Holocaus list readers for sharing their experiences and feelings about my recent posting about Holocaust Education in Germany. My purpose was to open up discussion about this concern for the present, and for the future. For such a long time, many Jews and Gentile Germans have lived in isolation from each other, because of profound feelings of betrayal, distrust, anger, fear and resentment. As Ursula Duba?s description today shows, and as the outpouring of emotion from both Jewish and German worlds about Goldhagen?s _Hitler?s Willing Executioners_ shows, the Holocaust is not "fixable" and many of us may never "heal" from the wounds it inflicted. That we are speaking out now, and spelling out our grievances and burdens from these legacies of the Holocaust, is a step forward from the chilling silence of the past. Whether Jews will be able to reclaim some dignity or justice for lost loved ones, and secure protection against any future massacres of our people, and whether Gentile Germans will be able to feel greater self respect and pride in their identity today, 50 years after, and gain the dignity and trust that they so much want from the rest of the world, is impossible to predict. But because of this lasting umbilical cord between us, whose image comes before our eyes again and again, we are frames of reference for each other in our Jewish and German quests to attain these goals. Now is one of those times when we address the pressure points between us, and it is painful on all sides to hear the difficulty of trying to deal with the past in the present. Breaking out of the silence promises no guarantees of "success", or easy resolution of tensions, as many people involved in German-Jewish relations know so well. But for those of us who want to do something in our lifetime, to try to break the cycle of racism and intolerance which fueled the Holocaust, how are we to proceed if we don?t question and listen to each other? Ursula?s comments on the hostility she encountered in young Germans when she read her poems about the Holocaust to them, raises an important question for Holocaust educators. How to deal with the "burden" overload for young Germans? One of my interviewees, a bright student in theology at the University of Tuebingen who began reaching out to Jewish correspondents on the Internet after the Rabin asssassination, (rather than connect with Jews in Tuebingen, because she did not know how to find Jews who would speak with her) told me, "The strength [of my Holocaust education] was that we could never even think about evading the truth of it happening, the weakness was maybe that in me it instilled self-hatred and a feeling of guilt. I can?t say much for others, only that I think it can be easy to push away nasty feelings by denying a I was never able to push anything aside or store anything up, so I struggled heavily with it. Only in my adulthood have I been able to overcome feelings of guilt and change them into feelings of responsibility for MY present environmenta I would have wanted our teachers to move past the past to the present, and instill in us a feeling of responsibility for what we do in our lives, rather than have us feel guilty about what we didn?t do and aren?t related to other than by birth into a certain peoplea a I am concerned with the fact that like weeds, hate and bad attitudes always grow back a you are never secure of them ANYWHERE. It is my responsibility to fight against any type of Antisemitism, as well as general xenophobia and arrogance, and that includes ANYWHERE, also in MYSELF, first and foremost, then in the people I meeta " The student also spelled out what she would like Jews to know about Holocaust education in Germany in this way: "I think they should know that there is education going on, and that teachers do feel very responsible for giving kids an idea of what went on, and also about the dangers in present day society. a I hope it is realistic to tell Jews that Germans aren?t inherently monsters, but they have a burden to carry too, maybe not as heavy as the victims and their people, but that it IS a burden and that it is also hard for young people here to accept the fact that they are held responsible for what their grandparents did. That it isn?t all that great to feel watched because you are German, and that sometimes this feeling can change into resentment against the people who are "keeping an eye on youa" She is not asking to be forgiven, nor to be "let off" from acting responsibly and respectfully towards Jews and other minorities in her German midst. She is, however, describing the challenge of living with the burdens of Germany?s past wrongs. Recently Nili Keren, a historian and educator who has trained many Israeli students and educators about the Holocaust from her post at the State Teacher?s College, Seminar Hakibbutzim, spoke frankly with me about what she has observed of Holocaust education in Germany. She told me that for the longest time, German teachers who met with Israeli educators listened while the Israelis lectured to them. They didn?t dare question, or express differences. Now, things are beginning to change. Now, German teachers are describing how Israeli-style pedagogy doesn?t always work with German youngsters. They need different tools and techniques. "This is good," said Nili. "It means we are talking more like peers, and can be more open and practical about how to make Holocaust education work better." Having seen how 30 years of Holocaust education has affected Israeli young people, Nili also addressed the question of how to better handle the "burden overload" among German students, which my University of Tuebingen contact described so clearly. ?What do you want German teachers to do? Teach little ones to go home and ask, was Grandpa a murderer?" Nili asked me. She then went on to explain the importance of doing Holocaust education with a clear understanding of basic human development. "Younger children need to love and respect their grandparents, if they have healthy relationships with them. If you take this love and respect away from them at too young an age, and instead implant the idea that grandpa is a monster, you could jeopardize their own developing ego and sense of self worth. You have to be very careful, introducing the issue of family member?s responsibility for the Holocaust. I recommend delaying this until students are older - in adolescence. Then they are psychologically better equipped to separate themselves from their relatives." This acknowledgment makes a pretty big statement about where Holocaust education is today, in 1996, in Israel and in Germany. Recognizing the humanity, and human needs, of German young people in the larger picture of Holocaust remembrance and German-Jewish relations is not an easy thing to do, especially in these times of Holocaust denial and historic revisionism. But as Nili so dramatically spells out, it may be strategic. The challenge seems to be: how to enable German young people to balance mastery of the facts and feelings of Holocaust history and family involvement, with a positive sense of their own decency and commitment to treat Jews respectfully and sincerely. Experts out there: come forth with your wisdom. Matthias Heyl, one of the young German historians I mentioned in my previous posting, sets a good example. He just informed me that his essay will be accessible soon, as "Education After Auschwitz. Teaching the Holocaust in Germany - Issues and Special Dilemmas", in Rochelle Millen (et al)?s upcoming book, _New Perspectives on the Holocaust_. Matthias is also co-editing a book with Helmut Schreier, entitled _Never Again! The Holocaust?s Challenge for Educators_. For more information, contact Matthias at SMHeyl@aol.com. Respectfully, Terry Toll The Write Place New Rochelle, New York 17 July 1996
|