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and employ inverted commas in order to identify historical terminology, although T2 refers to
the ‘final solution’, ‘crystal night’ and ‘living space’ without inverted commas. The moral bias
varies from fatalistic, where authors refer to the event as a ‘critical moment’ (T2) or ‘moral
crisis’ (T4), to progressive, where authors link the Holocaust to the post-war drive to prevent
crimes against humanity, genocide and war (T3).
Didactic approach
All textbooks contain open enquiry-based didactic exercises devoted to either source analysis
(T2, T3 and T4), critical reflection (T2 and T3), the explanation of camps (T3, T4 and T5), or
reflection on links between the Holocaust and present-day ‘ethnic cleansing’ (T1). More
generally, the textbooks explicitly provoke reflection on the Holocaust in connection with
mass violence and genocide generally, albeit without explaining these links. T1 asks pupils to
investigate the significance of ‘ethnic cleansing’, T2 evokes the issue of Holocaust denial and
provides a world map depicting the sites of genocides occurring in the twentieth century, T3
addresses human rights and contains a box devoted to the creation of the United Nations and
a section about the ‘moral impact’ of the Holocaust, while T2, T3 and T4 evoke the memory
of the Holocaust generally.
National idiosyncrasies
A large proportion of the textbooks (T1, T4 and T5) used in Spain treat the Holocaust in the
context of the Second World War and in text boxes which are distinct from the main textbook
narrative. They refer to a complex array of meta-historical topics, including memory and the
transmission of knowledge of the event via film, education, memorials and historiography.
Links between the Holocaust and the Spanish Civil War are rare, and none raise the issue
of the failure of the Allies to act in defence either of Republicans in 1937 or of victims of the
Holocaust. T3 merely states that the German invasion of Spain served to ‘test weapons’ to be
used later in the war, while T2 depicts Republican prisoners in Mauthausen making victory
signs with their hands at the moment of their liberation.
Bibliography
T1: Cortés Salinas, C., Fernández-Mayorales Palomeque, J. 2011. Ciencias Sociales, Historia, Comunidad de Madrid
4. Madrid, Equipo de Ediciones SM. (history, social sciences, in the series ‘Comunidad de Madrid’, age 16 years,
in Spanish)
T2: Redal, E. J. (director), Grence Ruiz, T., Álvarez, P. A., Rubalcaba, B. R., Caballero Martínez, J. M., de Torres-Peralta,
O. E., Iniesta Ayerra, J., López Santana, T. and Medina Rodríguez, V. (contributors). 2008. Historia 4 ESO. Madrid,
Santillana. (history, in the series ‘Proyecto La casa del saber’, age 16 years, in Spanish)
T3: Garrido González, A. 2008. Ciencias Sociales. Historia. Barcelona, Grupo Edebé. (history and social sciences,
age 16 years, in Spanish)
T4: Burgos Alonso, M., Muñoz -Delgado y Mérida, M. 2011. Historia. Ciencias Sociales. Educación Secundaria 4. Madrid,
Anaya. (history and social sciences, in the series ‘Ciencias Sociales, Geografía e Historia’, age 16 years, in Spanish)
T5: García Sebastián, M and Gatell Arimont, C. 2009. Demos. Cinecias Sociales, Historia. Educación Secundaria. Cuarto
Curso. Barcelona, Vicens Vives. (history and social sciences, age 16 years, in Spanish)
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