A new book, As the Witnesses Fall Silent: 21st Century Holocaust Education in Curriculum, Policy and Practice, will be launched on June 15, during a public event organized by UNESCO-IBE to discuss the challenges and prospects of countering intolerance and discrimination through education.
Published by UNESCO-IBE/Springer and edited by Professors Zehavit Gross of Bar-Ilan University and Doyle Stevick of University of South Carolina, the book is the most significant collection of empirical research from around the world produced to date. It features new studies of nations that have been struggling with the legacy of the Holocaust – including Israel, Germany, Poland, and the United States – and tracks the historical development of Holocaust education, establishing a clear frame for the most important issues and recent developments in the field.
“Holocaust education faces important challenges as societies around the world grapple with difficult pasts and their meaning for today”, editors Gross and Stevick said. “We believe that this book will evoke serious discussion on the issue of human rights and antiracist education, and that, through these educational approaches at an international level, global citizenship will help to prevent future racial atrocities”.
IBE Director Mmantsetsa Marope noted that “humanity has to stay vigilant and this book is one of those awakenings that we constantly need”.
The launch will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Karel Fracapane, UNESCO Division of Teaching, Learning and Contents. The panelists will include Monique Eckmann, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland, Geneva; Peter Gautschi, Pädagogische Hochschule Luzern; Dienke Hondius, Anne Frank House; Dominique Trimbur, Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah; as well as Peter Kirchschläger, Center of Human Rights Education, Pädagogische Hochschule Luzern.
The launch will be preceded by a roundtable debate by high-level officials and prominent scholars on “Countering Intolerance and Discrimination through Education”.
As the Witnesses Fall Silent is the latest in a line of IBE publications and thematic series in the field of education.
