nEUrosis

Mum’s the word

April 26th, 2007 by Pim de Kuijer

Speaking is silver, silence is gold, the saying goes. But not always. Recently, the BBC reported that in the UK some teachers refrain from talking about the Holocaust for fear of upsetting students. The same happens in other countries as well - in the Netherlands for example. There it is not poitical correctness that makes teachers avoid the subject, but actually fear of their pupils.

Teachers in schools with many children from Arab descent do not dare to talk about the Holocaust, because they are afraid of getting harassed, or worse, by angry parents and students.

Each country has its own policies that are determined by what is socially acceptable, as well as what is the country’s version of history. This is particularly true in the Balkans, where many educational systems still nip and tuck past wars and attrocities, making sure that what goes in textbooks is a patriotic, picturesque view of things past.

This is why several EU members objected to the German proposal of a common European history book for secondary school education. The project, perceived as helping to create a common European identity, caused outcry in Poland and the Netherlands, and was questioned in Finland and Denmark, among others.

Whether there will be a common history textbook or not, I think governments cannot acquiesce to some events being swept under the carpet. School curriculae need to be adapted to children’s needs, not tailored so as not to offend anyone. The Holocaust is a very significant, as well as sad, part of European history and should have a place in today’s classrooms. The Germans managed to do it. So, why could not the rest of European countries?

This is not to say there can be no debate on the issue. As Dutch
journalist and writer Joris Luyendijk who has lived in the Middle East for many years noted, he could never really respond to Arab accusations against Israel or the Jews, because in the West Israeli policies and Jewish history are not a subject of real debate. By teaching dry facts (or the version of facts one’s own country prefers) without the right to debate their significance or meaning, schools rob their students of the opportunity to learn how to argue. So yes, put the Holocaust on the school curriculum, and stimulate debate between students. Schools in the 21 Century are no longer only about teaching skills and stuffing students with facts, they should be places were they learn to have intelligent and informed debates, even about the most controversial of issues. Let that be a lesson too for the powers that be in Poland, where even discussing homosexuality in school can land a teacher on the street, according to a currently debated law. The only word that should not appear on a school’s curriculum as far as I am concerned, is the word taboo.

This can’t be too easy - why wouldn’t Dutch schools enlighten students about the behaviour of their compatriots in Indonesia? Why wouldn’t the Belgians be open about what their predecessors did in the Congo? Would Serbian students ever hear the truth about Srebrenitsa? Should we be open to the end, and debate with our grandparents what they did “during the war”, or, in former Communist countries, ask our parents if they ever worked for the Secret Services?

And if we shouldn’t, then we can’t blame Turkey for refusing to recognise the Armenian genocide, we can’t ask Croatia to be open about the Yugoslavian war, and we can definitely never raise questions about journalists being murdered in Russia.

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