New teaching aid: “Countering Holocaust denial and distortion through education. A guide for teachers”
What motivated UNESCO to publish the guide? What was the specific reason and what needs on the part of teachers were to be addressed?
On Telegram 80 percent of German-language content relating to the Holocaust constitutes a denial or distortion of history. At 17 percent, the situation is bad enough on TikTok. This is the finding of a UNESCO study on the denial, distortion and trivialisation of the Holocaust on social media published in 2022 under the title “History under attack: Holocaust denial and distortion on social media”. It is becoming abundantly clear that lies and hate propaganda have reached threatening proportions. And the situation has probably deteriorated even further in the last few years as a result of current crises. In the foreword, Stefania Giannini, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education, and Martin Polaschek, former Austrian Federal Minister for Education, speak of dangerous narratives that not only offend the memory of the victims but also undermine the foundations of truth, justice and human dignity. This is what UNESCO seeks to counter with the guide.
Compared with “Holocaust denial”, the expression “Holocaust distortion” is more difficult to interpret. How are the terms defined, and what is the difference between Holocaust distortion and Holocaust denial?
In Austria and Germany, as in most European countries, denial of the Holocaust is a criminal offence and is therefore rarely voiced in public today. In its definition of Holocaust denial, the United Nations also includes the denial of gas chambers or other modes of murder (UN Resolution January 2022). However, the distortion and trivialisation of the genocide of the Jewish people (Holocaust distortion) poses a much greater challenge for educators. In this context the United Nations includes denial of the true number of victims, rejection of historical sources and testimonies, repudiation of responsibility, and the anti-Semitic attribution of blame to the Jewish victims. Falsification and trivialisation of the history of the Holocaust are sometimes difficult to recognise and cannot be addressed as easily as straightforward denial. Furthermore, there are powerful actors, such as states and political parties, that seek to put their own spin on the memory of the Holocaust, one that relieves them of responsibility.
Historical facts are also distorted in public discourse and cultural life. The Nazi period and, in particular, the crimes against humanity committed by the National Socialist German Reich and its allies have become part of humanity’s shared memory. They are constantly referred to and utilised in all manner of contexts, for example to assess current developments or identify ideological positions. They guarantee a high level of attention and wide reach, making them an economic factor in today’s attention industry.
Why are social media a particular danger with regard to the dissemination of Holocaust denial, distortion and disinformation?
The internet and the so-called social media have a decisive influence on our perception of the world and thus of history. Unlike historical information presented in museums, academic works or schoolbooks, content is disseminated on the internet without any form of control. Within this diverse, prolific and bewildering wealth of information, reliable and useful material is to be found alongside information that grossly simplifies and distorts the history of the Holocaust as well as outright lies and hate speech. Artificial intelligence (AI) is another growing challenge. The digital fakes it can generate are almost impossible to distinguish from presentations based on historical facts. AI can be used to spread lies, propaganda and hatred, including Nazi ideology. The algorithms behind social media remain hidden from users and beyond their control. On many platforms they give prominence to controversial and emotionally charged content, which often includes lies and hate speech.
The guide is designed to help teachers respond to Holocaust denial and distortion and hate speech on the internet. Can you give a few examples of where you think the guide is especially important or helpful?
A main item for me is that educators should be able to recognise the falsification and trivialisation of the genocide against the Jews and to understand which actors are trying to exert such influences and with what intentions. This teaching aid provides them with good and concise guidance.
Good examples with regard to the internet include information on the subject of the online manipulation strategies used to deny and distort the Holocaust, and suggestions for assessing the credibility of online sources (posts, websites, etc.). Among the many suggestions for classroom activities included in the guide, I would draw particular attention to the advice teachers are given on how to respond when students say something that seems to constitute denial, distortion or trivialisation of the Holocaust.
We are already familiar with many of the recommendations and suggestions contained in the guide in the context of Holocaust education and history education in general. Which aspects would you say are specific to addressing Holocaust denial and Holocaust distortion?
The guide is structured in three parts: The first chapter provides an overview of the denial, falsification and distortion of the Holocaust and analyses the common patterns. This information helps teachers to recognise and understand denial, distortion and trivialisation.
The second chapter focuses on pedagogical and methodological considerations: How can teachers react when confronted with these issues? And what can they do to prepare their students for the various attempts at manipulation that they will encounter, especially in the internet and on social media? In this chapter, attention is drawn in particular to methods employed in the field of digital literacy and the acquisition of digital skills. It also addresses general educational issues such as classroom management and didactic questions regarding the methodologically sound comparison of historical events.
The third chapter focuses on the growing challenges posed by deliberately false and misleading information in the digital age and explores solutions that have proven successful for learners and teachers.
The guide integrates approaches from the fields of history, history didactics and citizenship education with those of digital education – all with a focus on the falsification and trivialisation of the history of the Holocaust. The project brought together experts from a range of fields, including history, history didactics, digital education, communication and media studies, social psychology and law.
The guide was prepared in collaboration with an international team of experts. Were you personally surprised by any of the insights or country specifics they presented?
The texts were subjected to an intensive feedback cycle, which incorporated expertise from other fields and regions of the world. The authors’ European perspectives were augmented by insights from the United States, Canada, India and Africa, which provide a broader view and underscore the relevance of the guide.
Even if the internet itself constitutes a global communication space, it is always regional actors who spread lies and hatred in specific contexts and with specific intentions. What I find particularly distressing is the situation of teachers in countries where the Holocaust is officially denied, falsified and distorted by the state. How should they react? What room for manoeuvre do they have without endangering themselves or their students?
Freedom of speech is another important topic, as the principle is often invoked by the very people who spread lies and hatred online. Here, too, we try to point the way through the maze of arguments: As in real life, there are legally grounded restrictions on what can be said in the virtual world. In real life most people understand this, but in the virtual world many see no need for rules and decency.
In the course of the project, it became particularly clear to me how fundamental the search for truth is for peaceful coexistence and the advancement of our knowledge of the world. It is not a trivial matter when the public space is flooded with lies. Not every statement carries the same weight, because there are rules about how assertions must be supported by reasoned and verifiable arguments. Our history textbooks are not just one more narrative in a great white noise of countless narratives; they are the product of verifiable processes, which have been checked by experts for their plausibility and usefulness, and are employed by competent teachers in challenging classroom settings. The same applies to quality-assured learning materials and information on the internet. In my view, therefore, it is important that we continue to work on the quality of both our schoolbooks and curated learning materials and sources of information on the internet, and that we avoid the mistake of believing that the knowledge that is available online makes these efforts superfluous.
German version of the interview
Holocaust distortion training programme of the IHRA in cooperation with UNESCO
