"NATIONALISM, ANTI-SEMITISM AND THE HOLOCAUST," FOR AUSTRIAN SCHOOL TEACHERS
The answer to these challenges at the Pädagogische Hochschule Tirol is a new two-semester course entitled "Nationalism, Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust - History and the Present". It was developed in collaboration with the network coordinators of the Tiroler ERINNERN:AT programme OeAD and is addressed to secondary, vocational and polytechnic school teachers.
The course provides basic didactic and factual knowledge about Jewish life in Tirol, terror and persecution, resistance and the culture of remembrance. It also presents a variety of educational materials and exercises to show the possibilities of contemporary teaching about nationalism, the Holocaust and anti-Semitism. The combination of these topics with an explicit reference to the present makes this course the first of its kind in Austria. The course is content-led by ERINNERN:AT Tirol network staff and lecturers from the Pädagogische Hochschule.
The course will culminate in a three-day excursion to Berlin organised in partnership with House of the Wannsee Conference. It is the first collaboration for this memorial as part of a course conducted at a European pedagogical university. Since 2020, Austrian-born Deborah Hartmann has been the director of the House of the Wannsee Conference. For her, the partnership with PH Tirol and ERINNERN:AT is particularly important, as it contributes to combining theory and educational practice.
"The memory and education centre focuses on educational activities related to specific professional groups. We are pleased that we can contribute to improving the communication of historical and political content. It is also important that we reflect on the connections and differences between historical and contemporary manifestations of anti-Semitism in international exchanges," - said Deborah Hartmann.
“We are immensely proud of this collaboration because we are aware of our responsibility as an educational organisation to cultivate and disseminate a culture of remembrance. Terrorism, exclusion and persecution have no place in modern and civilised societies. Through this university-level course, we want to make a lasting contribution to the 'Not Forgetting' process. I particularly wish to thank the project partners and our committed staff,” - said Regine Mathies, Rector of the Pädagogische Hochschule Tirol.
More information about the course can be found here.
Teaching about nationalism, the Holocaust and anti-Semitism faces significant challenges: How does the growing time gap from the National Socialist era impact the learning process? How can teachers respond appropriately to increasing anti-Semitism and racism? What does this entail for teaching, as the composition of students becomes increasingly diverse?
Wannsee Conference House