Is it possible to understand the Holocaust? Insights from some German school contexts

Bibliographic Data

ID12904255
AuthorsKatalin Morgan (University of Duisburg-Essen, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume23
Issue4
Pages441-463
Publication date2017-02-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHolocaust Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1750-4902 • E-ISSN: 2048-4887
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17504902.2017.1284376
OpenAlexW2590312477
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited22

Against the background of the uniqueness position regarding antisemitism, this study seeks to find out whether there are thought patterns, as expressions of cultural memory, in members of school communities in Germany, that obscure the possibility to understand the Holocaust. Using an ethnographic data gathering and a historiographical data analysis method, narratives were constructed from recorded opinions, interviews and conversations with teachers and pupils around this topic. Such interactions were facilitated by the introduction of an educational DVD medium called “Witnesses of the Shoah.” Results show that four such thought patterns could be identified: incomprehension or incomprehensibility; relativization; externalization and generalization; and emotional defensiveness against prejudice. These results are discussed and their implications explored

Epistemology · Ethnography · Externalization · Generalization · German · Historiography · Linguistics · Narrative · Political science · Prejudice (legal term · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · The Holocaust · Anthropology · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Psychology · Social Psychology

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