Between involuntary and voluntary memories: A case study of holocaust education in Israel

The Holocaust is a primary component of Jewish identity and contributes significantly to Jewish Israelis’ sense of belonging to the Jewish people. Despite the facts that the Holocaust is a central event in Jewish history and that Holocaust education is mandatory in the state education system in Israel, research on the impact of Holocaust education is limited and the field has not yet been conceptualised systematically. This chapter attempts to organise the existing knowledge on the subject through a review of the foundations and basic premises of Holocaust education in Israel and to provide a meta-analysis of the best studies in the area. Using a personal story that locates the author’s experience and perspective on the issue, this review posits a distinction between involuntary and voluntary memories and provides a conceptual framework that organises by period the changing Israeli attitudes toward the Holocaust in general and Holocaust education in particular. The chapter then describes the development of Holocaust education over the years, and finally analyses its major dilemmas and challenges.