Holocaust Lessons Still Relevant in the 21st Century
At a Ministerial Conference in Auschwitz on the 2010 International Remembrance Day for the Victims of National Socialism, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) released the findings of the first ever EU-wide study on the role of historical sites and museums in teaching about the Holocaust and human rights. The report reveals that at historical sites and in schools across the EU, teaching about the Holocaust rarely includes discussion of related human rights issues. Teachers and guides are regarded as key to ensuring interest in the subject, yet there is a lack of human rights training on behalf of both groups. Based on the findings of its study, the FRA encourages national governments to better integrate human rights education into their school curricula to reflect the significance of human rights for both the history and the future of the EU.
FRA Director Morten Kjaerum: “The findings of our report reveal the importance attached to Holocaust education, democracy education and human rights education by governments throughout the EU. However, this is not sufficiently reflected in school curricula and links are not established between important historical events, like the Holocaust, and human rights. When this is achieved young people in the EU will be able to fully understand their past and go on to build a more united future.”
FRA Report “Discover the past for the future. A study on the role of historical sites and museums in Holocaust education and human rights education in the EU”: http://fra.europa.eu
