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assume should be attained by learning about the Holocaust. Reading the curriculum on
this level requires some sensitivity towards the context and structure of the curriculum
itself.
Collaborating researchers received a standard questionnaire in 2013, 37 in which they were
requested to record the contents of their state’s curriculum in three stages: firstly, whether
the core terms ‘Holocaust’ or ‘Shoa(h)’ occur; secondly, what indirect references to the
event occur by means of combinations of terms such as ‘concentration camp’, ‘genocide’ or
‘National Social(ism/ist)’, for example; thirdly, in cases where there are neither direct nor
indirect references to the Holocaust, what other contemporaneous events (of European,
world or local history) appear in the curricula and/or what alternative uses of the terms
‘Holocaust’ and/or ‘Shoah’ are made in reference to events other than the European
genocide of the 1930s and 1940s.
At all times, allowance was made for the fact that the results of the enquiry were to be
made available to a broad public in English. Researchers were therefore requested to
translate terms into English as accurately as possible in order to provide some insight
into the semantic connotations of the original language. Since we relied on the goodwill of
ministries of education to supply curricula, not all countries of the world are covered here.
In many countries, teaching about the Holocaust takes place at different levels, ranging
from primary to upper secondary schools, and in different subjects ranging from history to
social studies, literature, philosophy and religious studies. In light of the large volume of
material available in this domain, we were forced by practical restraints to confine our study
to history and social studies curricula for the age group ranging from fourteen to eighteen.
3.2 Procedure for the textbook analysis
Seven questions guided our enquiry into the status of the Holocaust in textbooks:
1. On what textbooks is the sample based That is, how many textbooks are included
in the analysis, when were they published and for what subjects are they designed
(history, social studies, literature, philosophy or religious studies), what main topics
are chapters devoted to over how many pages, and what space is devoted to the
Holocaust in proportion to the overall number of pages in the book
2. What spatial or geographical scale is ascribed to the Holocaust That is, does the
textbook locate the event in a local, national, European, global or transnational
context, and does it draw on texts or maps to do this Likewise, what temporal
scale is ascribed to the Holocaust That is, when is its beginning and end defined,
and what major occurrences are named
37 Appendix 1 contains a facsimile of the questionnaire concerning curricula.
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