Isolated Islands? Memory of the Holocaust in Formal and Informal Education

The Case Study of Post-Communist Poland

Authors

  • Jolanta Ambrosewicz‑Jacobs Center for Holocaust Studies, Jagiellonian University
  • Elisabeth Büttner Center for Holocaust Studies, Jagiellonian University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.11.2014.27.04

Keywords:

Holocaust, Jews, education, memory, attitudes

Abstract

The conflicts associated with the memory of the Holocaust in Poland reflect educational gaps in the Polish education system (lack of bad memory). Comparison with other similar studies in Europe and beyond allows one to reveal affinities and divergences in patterns of behaviour in various states in relation to the historical past, social identity and collective memory. This text looks at the consciousness of young Poles, in terms of attitudes toward Jews, the Holocaust and memory of the Holocaust. The data presented are the preliminary results of the author’s longitudinal study “Attitudes of Young Poles to-ward the Jews and the Holocaust”. Quantitative and qualitative studies include field studies and participant observation of educational projects in Tykocin, Treblinka, Warsaw, Lublin, Bodzentyn and Kielce. The number and scope of initiatives in Poland attempting to bring back the memory of Jewish neighbours indicate that civic institutions and individuals are intensifying their efforts to teach their fellow citizens about the Holocaust, however their impact should be assessed in detail.

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Author Biographies

Jolanta Ambrosewicz‑Jacobs, Center for Holocaust Studies, Jagiellonian University

PhD in humanities, director of the Centre for Holocaust Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków; teaches at the Institute for European Studies at the Jagiellonian University; Pew scholar the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University in New York and a DAAD scholar at the House of the WannseeConference in Berlin. In 2011 -2012 she was an Ina Levine Invitational Scholar at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. Publications: Me – Us – Them. Ethnic Prejudices and Alternative Methods of Education. The Case of Poland (2003), Tolerancja – jak uczyć siebie i innych (2003, 2004), Dlaczego należy uczyć o Holokauście? (ed. J. Ambrosewicz-Jacobs and Leszek Hońdo; 2003, 2004, 2005), Jak uczyć o Holokauście i Auschwitz. Materiały dydaktyczne (eds. J. Ambrosewicz-Jacobs, Krystyna Oleksy and Piotr Trojański; 2007), Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching about Religions and Beliefs in Public Schools (with Cole Durham, Silvio Ferrari [et. al.], J. Ambrosewicz-Jacobs [et al.]; 2007), Pamięć. Świadomość. Odpowiedzialność. Remembrance. Awareness, Responsibility (ed. J. Ambrosewicz-Jacobs, Krystyna Oleksy; 2008), The Holocaust. Voices of Scholars (ed.; 2009).

Elisabeth Büttner, Center for Holocaust Studies, Jagiellonian University

Holds a MA degree in European Studies earned at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, PhD candidate at the Institute for European Studies at the Jagiellonian Universit (dissertation topic: The fate of German prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp). Participated in the research project “Attitudes towards Jews, the Holocaust and the memory of the Holocaust among Polish Youth”. Held an EHRI scholarship in 2013. Research interests: antisemitism, history of concentration camps, coming to terms with the Nazi past. Publications: ‘Małżeństwo w cieniu swastyki’ (in A. Bartuś (ed.), Słowa w służbie nienawiści, Oświęcim 2013); ‘What Can We Learn from the Dark Chapters in our History? Education about the Holocaust in Poland in a Comparative Perspective’ (J. Ambrosewicz-Jacobs in cooperation with E. Buettner, FLEKS. Scandinavian Journal of Intercultural Theory and Practice, Vol. 1 (2014)); ‘The Center for Holocaust Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow: Studies, Research, Remembrance’ (J. Ambrosewicz -Jacobs, E. Buettner, K. Suszkiewicz, in L. W. Zimmerman [et al.], Jewish Studies and Holocaust Education in Poland, Jefferson 2014).

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Published

2014-02-20

How to Cite

Ambrosewicz‑Jacobs, Jolanta, and Elisabeth Büttner. 2014. “Isolated Islands? Memory of the Holocaust in Formal and Informal Education: The Case Study of Post-Communist Poland”. Politeja 11 (1(27):81-106. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.11.2014.27.04.

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 1(27) (2014)

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Articles

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