Holocaust memory and its mediation by teachers: a study of England and France (1987 - 2018)

Holocaust education has expanded in its purpose and status between 1987 and 2018, reflecting increasing practices and rituals of remembrance in Holocaust memory. Whilst changes in policy, museums, memorials, cultural productions and school textbooks have all been examined by Holocaust scholars, the practice of Holocaust education in classrooms has avoided scrutiny in memory studies and history of education despite becoming a primary place of memory transmission. This thesis considers the role of the secondary school history teacher, as a consumer, producer and mediator of Holocaust memories. It argues teachers do not simply present the ‘official’ textbook narrative of history to school pupils, but construct a historical memory based on their beliefs about the purpose of history education, the needs of society and the needs of their pupils. Their lessons and pedagogies are informed and challenged by the cultural memory of the Holocaust, memories of their own family histories of the Second World War, and also current affairs and politics. Accordingly, their mnemonic nexus articulates the dynamics of collective memory. Using oral semi-structured ‘life history’ interviews with history teachers, this thesis explores the mnemonic influences on individual teachers’ understanding of the Holocaust in four localities across England and France. Combined with a review of professional teaching magazines and journals, and local newspapers, this thesis charts the trajectory of Holocaust education across Aix-en-Provence, Leeds/Bradford, Lincolnshire and Marseille. By doing so, it looks for moments when family memory enriched or subverted dominant narratives of the Holocaust, as well as the relationship between Holocaust education and other ‘difficult histories’ of genocide and empire. As teachers engage emotionally with the Holocaust, this thesis argues that teachers also aimed to produce emotion in classrooms as a tool to shape ‘future citizens’ and to develop local, national and European identities.