By Leah Goldstein

Can it be claimed that the Holocaust was a unique event in history? And if so, is it possible to learn any general lessons from this terrible period, to teach about its deep-rooted causes and global consequences, or even to help victims of other genocides put their own experiences into some kind of human context?

These were some of the challenging questions raised, discussed and debated at Yad Vashem’s Fifth International Educators’ Conference, which took place in June. Some three hundred participants from 21 countries worldwide attended the biennial event, which was organized by the International School for Holocaust Studies and Oranim Educational Initiatives Ltd., and supported by The Asper International Holocaust Studies Program at Yad Vashem.

The conference featured three main topics of discussion: educational uses of Holocaust art, literature, and film; educational implications of visiting Holocaust memorial sites and museums; and educational objectives regarding the uniqueness of the Shoah in the context of genocide. Panel presentations by keynote educators, scholars and historians were followed by moderated discussion groups and smaller educational workshops connected to the day’s topic.

Prof. Lawrence Langer, of Simmons College, USA, opened talks on the first day, discussing educational uses of Holocaust literature. Using the historical narrative as a background, he argued, the vast array of literature on the Shoah “helps us imagine what we cannot know. …[Holocaust literature] forces us to enter the narrative first as witnesses, then as participants through the power of our imagination.” Dr. Stephen Feinstein of the University of Minnesota, discussed how portraying “fragments of information without trivializing the event,” Holocaust art has created “new levels of discourse in our community” and has even been used as historical evidence. Dr. Deborah Oppenheimer, Producer of the Academy Award winning film Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, spoke of her moving journey in making the film. Oppenheimer described how, as opposed to “the six million,” individual faces and stories give one an “entry point” into learning about the Holocaust that is different to all other material.

On the second day of the conference, guest lecturers Prof. Dr. Rita Süssmuth, Former President of the German Parliament, Dr. Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Dan Napolitano of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, gave fascinating insights into Holocaust commemoration in their respective countries. Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev also spoke, describing a visit to an actual site of mass murder as an “all-sensory experience” where “our imagination may allow us to move a little closer to the event itself.” The fact that over a million people have visited Auschwitz-Birkenau, he claimed, shows a changing attitude among the public, who wish to understand “what actually happened” and who realize the importance of the Holocaust to their lives today.

While museums are not authentic sites, most curators make a concerted effort to bring “pieces of authenticity” to their millions of visitors, the viewing of which allows them to build impressions which can also affect their future choices and social behavior. However, warned Shalev, this authenticity must be reinforced by a narrative based on objective and historical research, otherwise it runs the risk of “being rejected in the long term.” The new Holocaust History Museum at Yad Vashem exemplifies this combination, placing the individual at the center of the narrative, thus allowing the visitor to identify more closely, and find relevance to his or her own life.

The final session was highlighted by the fascinating lectures given by Dr. Deborah Lipstadt, Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University, Atlanta, Prof. Ben Kiernan of Yale University, and Academic Advisor to Yad Vashem, Prof. Yehuda Bauer. Dr. Lipstadt demonstrated that the Shoah certainly has unique elements—it was a genocide of a people beyond its own borders motivated neither by economic nor political motives, as exemplified by the Germans’ pursuit of their murderous policies even when this directly inhibited their own war campaign. Yet not allowing any comparison to other acts of genocide around the world prohibits us from recognizing warning signs of a similar event in the future, from teaching its history to students today, or from understanding its significance in the modern world. The “unprecedentedness” of the Holocaust, claimed Lipstadt, is indisputable, but we must be able to evaluate the individual elements of the period in order to teach others about the danger of future genocidal attempts, and give words to those who have already suffered through their own.

The closing session was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Israel Asper, and chaired by Executive Director of The Asper Foundation Moses (Moe) Levy. Pedagogical Director of the International School Shulamit Imber and Prof. Irwin Cotler, Member of the Canadian Parliament, also addressed the participants.

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