What do students know and understand about the Holocaust?

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Who were the perpetrators and who was responsible?
of how students accounted for the actions of the
German people and, in turn, how far these behaviours
rendered the population responsible for the events
which occurred. In the following sections, three
dominant student explanations are outlined. First,
that the German people were ‘brainwashed’ into
supporting the Nazis. Second, that ‘fear’ prevented
the German people from opposing Hitler and the
Nazis. Third, that most Germans simply ‘did not
know’ about the unfolding events of the Holocaust.
Explanatory accounts:
Brainwashing, propaganda, speeches
The first explanation offered by many students during
interview was that somehow, ostensibly innocent
German people were ‘brainwashed’ by Hitler and the
Nazis during the 1930s and 1940s. For example, the
following selected quotes are typical of phrases and
explanations used by many students in Year 9:
I think he kind of brainwashed people because he
put those sorts of posters up and things and people
like saw them all the time and it just kind of got into
their head that he was the boss and he was going
to tell them what to do (Julia, Year 9, NE1).
Hitler created these stereotypes about how Jews
were bad and Gypsies were bad and people were
bad and … it was drilled into their brains (Ariella,
Year 9, LON6).
I think everything leads back to Hitler in the end
because he was like passionate about what he said
in the speeches and I think he almost brainwashed
the Nazis and the whole of Germany
(Grace, Year 9, LON6).
He persuaded people obviously, like in schools
– he starts teaching people how Jews are inferior
to them. Brainwashing them (Harry, Year 9, EE1).
What was significant about the interviews
(particularly with those aged 11 to 14) was the sense
that the German people had no agency, no choice
and, as a result, no responsibility. In the view of
many students the German people were cunningly
‘manipulated’, ‘brainwashed’ or even ‘tricked’ by
Hitler and the Nazis. For example, when asked
about the role of ordinary German people in the
Holocaust one Year 9 student remarked, ‘I think
Hitler tricked them into believing it [blaming the
Jews] was right, though. So they went along with it’
(Marie, Year 9, SE1).
To support the repeated claim that German people
were often ‘brainwashed’ or vigorously ‘persuaded’
by Hitler and the Nazis, a number of younger
students referred to the power of Nazi propaganda.
For example, Aaliyah (Year 10, LON5) commented,
‘There was a lot of propaganda as well handed
out by the Führer on hatred of the Jews’. Another
student said, ‘They were just brainwashed with
propaganda. He showed them how bad the Jews
were and then he fooled everybody into thinking they
were the bad guys and they should be killed’ (Elliot,
Year 9, EE1).
However, when asked to talk in more detail about
propaganda many younger students (particularly
in Years 7 to 9) floundered. For example, a couple
of students said that Hitler used or ‘put up, like,
posters’ (Julia, Year 9, NE1). Some intimated that the
media (especially newspapers) and the education
system were used to promote Nazi ideas, while
Ariella (Year 8, LON6) drew on the experience of the
fictional character Bruno from The Boy in the Striped
Pyjamas who ‘was like watching a film that he wasn’t
supposed to see about the concentration camps and
how they were good’.
The fact that these were all isolated references
suggested that a significant amount of younger
students may not have a secure grasp on what
propaganda is, or the myriad of ways in which it was
employed in German society. Given the important
function that propaganda played in the process of
social and cultural ostracisation of the Jews and
other victim groups, it is disconcerting to think that
younger students were not more confident and/
or familiar with its different manifestations in Nazi
Germany. This is especially so since the vast number
of students spoke of Hitler bending people to his will
by ‘brainwashing’ them.
By contrast, many students in Years 12 and 13
appeared to hold more sophisticated ideas about
Nazi propaganda techniques and the pivotal role
played by Joseph Goebbels. Older students were
typically more likely to focus on Nazi efforts to use
the education system to indoctrinate young people.
Students also variously commented on the emphasis
placed by the Nazis on the Hitler Youth movement
and also noted changes to the curriculum and
textbooks to inculcate antisemitic propaganda
and ‘infiltrate schools’ by ‘teaching eugenics’
(Holly, Year 10, LON5).
Of note was how students of all ages were able
to speak in reasonable detail about the force and
significance of Hitler’s speeches. Students variously
described Hitler’s speeches as ‘passionate’,
‘persuasive’, ‘convincing’ and ‘powerful’. As
the following brief exchange between two Year
10 students revealed, the importance of Hitler’s
speeches in persuading the German people
was very clear to young people: