As the Witnesses Fall Silent: 21st Century Holocaust Education in Curriculum, Policy and Practice

This volume represents the most comprehensive collection ever produced of empirical
research on Holocaust education around the world. It comes at a critical time, as the
world approaches the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
We are now at a turning point as the generations that witnessed and survived the Shoah
are slowly passing on. Governments are charged with ensuring that this defining event
of the 20th century should take its rightful place in the historical consciousness of its
peoples and their education.
The policies and practices of Holocaust education around the world are as diverse as
the countries that grapple with its history and its meaning. The struggle continues
to reconcile national histories and memories with the international realities of the
Holocaust and its implications for the present. These efforts take place at a time when
scholarship about the Holocaust itself has made great strides.
In this book, these issues are framed by some of the leading voices in the field, including
Elie Wiesel and Yehuda Bauer, and then explored by many distinguished scholars
who represent a wide range of expertise.
Holocaust education is of such significance, so rich in meaning, so powerful in content,
and so diverse in practice that the need for extensive, high-quality empirical research
is critical. This book provides exactly that.