THE HOLOCAUST AND THE UNITED NATIONS OUTREACH PROGRAMME

The Legacy of the Danish Rescue 39
Lessons learned
It is within this framework that we have to understand why a socalled
“righteous nation” like Denmark considered it necessary to
establish a Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is observed each
year as a theme-day in schools around the country. On 27 January,
Danish youngsters learn about the Holocaust and other genocides
and the general public participates in ceremonies held by the municipalities
around the country.
What lessons can be learned from a country where Holocaust education
was only recently introduced and which has a unique status in
the history of the Holocaust because of the unprecedented rescue of
its Jews in October 1943?
First we must conclude that, although the
annual Auschwitz Day is a popular activity
“One may ask why
among most Danish high schools, we do not
it was decided to
know very much about how effective it is as
mark Holocaust
a vehicle for Holocaust education. From a Remembrance Day and
study conducted by a group of Danish and expose Danish school
German scholars, we know that, for a Danish
student, the Holocaust represents the of the Holocaust and
children to the history
strongest lesson to be learned from the Second
World War (Bjerg 2011), a fact confirmed
other genocides?”
by a recent poll conducted by the Danish
daily Berlingske Tidende. Danish youngsters tend to refer to the history
of the Second World War not as the history of the German occupation
of Denmark, but as the history of the Holocaust (Berlingske,
30.09.2013) suggesting a transition from a national narrative to a
global one (Bjerg, Lenz & Bjerregaard, 2007).
Second, during the past one to two decades, research has provided us
with more knowledge about the local aspects of Holocaust history.
The Holocaust has become more nuanced and multifaceted, which,
in my view, requires that we reevaluate how to teach the subject
today. Allow me to emphasize my point. As mentioned, Auschwitz