Holocaust education isn’t coming to save us

What moral lessons should we take from the Holocaust? In 1998, the late Israeli Holocaust historian Yehuda Bauer told the Bundestag about the three additional commandments the world had learned in the wake of the Shoah: “Thou shalt not be a perpetrator; thou shalt not be a victim; and thou shalt never, but never, be a bystander.” The first, "never be a perpetrator," was embraced most strongly by the Jewish left. The second, "never be a victim," became a raison d'etre of the Jewish right. But the message with the largest purchase on civic institutions—within and beyond the Jewish community—was the third, "never be a bystander," underlying school curricula, public museums, and national monuments. How Holocaust education shapes young people’s views on Jews and Israel was ignited in recent months by the author and former White House speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz. “Holocaust education is absolutely essential," she said onstage at the opening session of the General Assembly of Jewish Federations of North America. "But I think it may be confusing some of our young people about antisemitism, because they learn about big, strong Nazis hurting weak, emaciated Jews.... So when on TikTok, all day long, they see powerful Israelis hurting weak, skinny Palestinians, it’s not surprising that they think, ‘Oh, I know the lesson of the Holocaust is you fight Israel. You fight the big, powerful people hurting the weak people.’” Today on Not in Heaven, our hosts discuss the messages of Holocaust education, whether the moral lessons we draw from the Holocaust are too binary—powerful vs. powerless, oppressor vs. oppressed—and if Holocaust education should be seen as a tool for advancing a modern social agenda at all. Credits Hosts: Avi Finegold, Yedida Eisenstat, Matthew Leibl Production team: Zachary Judah Kauffman (editor), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Socalled Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Not in Heaven (Not sure how? Click here )