Abstract
Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a shift in emphasis in the teaching of the Holocaust can be observed across the United States, away from focusing primarily on the experience of displacement, deportation, and annihilation to illustrating and explaining the enabling mechanisms that led to the rise of the Third Reich and, ultimately, the development and implementation of the final solution. Exacerbated by a myriad of administrative actions (e. g. Executive Order 13769) and national developments (e. g. a surge in hate crimes, including antisemitism), historians have analyzed current events in relation to Nazi Germany with the intent to contrast and compare, and to warn of the fragility of liberal democracy. How does the current national political climate play into Holocaust Education at the collegiate level? Recognizing the unique opportunity to partake in emerging local and national conversations, the testimonial narrative of Holocaust survivor Noémi Ban underwent transformation for the 2017 Yom HaShoah commemoration. This article seeks to reflect on the context that informed and necessitated this reframing and its resulting modification, to illustrate its concept and practical realization and to describe the testimony’s overall ongoing progression, both in content and presentational mode, since April 2017.
Zusammenfassung
An amerikanischen Hochschulen kann seit der Präsidentschaftswahl im November 2016 eine Verschiebung in der Lehre des Holocaust beobachtet werden: weg von der Konzentration auf Darstellungen der Vertreibung, Deportation und Vernichtung, hin zur Fokussierung auf die Voraussetzungen, die das Dritte Reich erst ermöglichten und zur Entwicklung und Umsetzung der Endlösung führten. Verschärft durch eine Vielzahl von administrativen Maßnahmen (z. B. Dekret 13769) und nationalen Entwicklungen (z. B. ein Anstieg von sog. „hate crimes“, darunter Antisemitismus) stellen amerikanische Historikerinnen und Historiker beispielsweise aktuelle tagespolitische Ereignisse in Bezug zu Nazi-Deutschland, mit der Absicht, Strukturen zu vergleichen bzw. zu unterscheiden sowie vor der Zerbrechlichkeit der Demokratie im Allgemeinen zu warnen. Wie wirkt sich das aktuelle politische Klima auf die „Holocaust Education“ an amerikanischen Universitäten aus? An der Western Washington University entschied sich die Holocaust-Überlebende Noémi Ban, ihren Erlebnisbericht für eine Veranstaltung an Yom HaShoah zu überarbeiten. In meinem Artikel reflektiere ich nicht nur den Kontext, der zu diesen Veränderungen führte, sondern erläutere ebenfalls das dahinter stehende Konzept und seine Durchführung sowie die fortdauernden Veränderungen seit April 2017.
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Alfers, S. (2019). Holocaust Survivor Testimony in the Age of Trump. An American Perspective. In: Ballis, A., Gloe, M. (eds) Holocaust Education Revisited. Holocaust Education – Historisches Lernen – Menschenrechtsbildung. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-24205-3_3
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