Abstract
This thesis studies issues surrounding representation of a particular Nazi group – the HitlerJugend (HJ) – in educational settings directed towards American Jewish students at the elementary and secondary level. The three settings are Holocaust museums, educational travel, and formal day-school classroom curricula. These narratives are shaped – and often excluded – from some formal educational settings as part of an occasional effort to utilize the Holocaust to address contemporary communal concerns. As a result, the study of the Holocaust and wartime Europe is at times divided along very morally polar lines. \\tI trace the ways in which these settings shape perpetrator narratives, motivations for doing so, and potential impacts of Nazi exclusion. Ultimately I argue that Holocaust museums and educational travel deal with the victim-bystander-perpetrator trifecta in far more simplistic terms than many formal classroom curricula. My research led me to the conclusion that many of the Holocaust museums in the United States are focused on the victim and witness/ liberator narratives, for the dual purpose of i) positing the Holocaust as a universal although uniquely Jewish experience, and ii) situating the Shoah within American values and society. Due to these preoccupations, as well as the effort to maintain moral clarity, perpetrator narratives are almost non-existent. Within educational travel, ‘perpetrators’ and ‘bystanders’ are ill-defined, and participants’ understanding of these groups – and contemporary Poland - is shaped by travel, survivor testimonies, and commemorative experiences that take place during their time in Eastern Europe. This facilitates the construction of contemporary Poland as a land of ‘death,’ particularly when juxtaposed against Israel, the land of Jewish life and safety. As a result, participants come to understand themselves as bearers of an important tradition that was lost, and are thus encouraged to make Jewish choices. Formal educational systems often use a more nuanced approach to perpetrator narratives. In fact, many Nazi groups – particularly the HJ- are used to teach students about the responsibilities of citizenship. I argue this is both a result of autonomy of Jewish educators and a more current understanding of Jewish ethnicity. \\tUltimately I argue that the inclusion of perpetrator narratives in all three settings is not only feasible, it is desirable. An understanding of the Nazi experience has the potential to give Jewish students a more nuanced and holistic understanding of the Holocaust, and counteracts a potential ‘victim culture’ the use of the Shoah promotes.