B Лабиринте Политизации: Преподавание Холокоста В Школах Республики Молдов
Translated Title
In the Maze of Politicization: Holocaust Studies in Moldova’s Public Schools
Author(s)
Publication Name
Publication Date
Abstract
До сегодняшнего дня в Молдове тема Холокоста на территории Бессарабии, Буковины и Транснистрии, находившихся во время Второй мировой войны под румынской властью, так и не нашла себе места в школьной программе по истории. Это объясняется убежденностью преподавателей в том, что предмет национальной истории должна составлять история этнических молдаван и что изучение Холокоста создает препятствия для сближения национальной идентичности румын и молдаван. Особенное сопротивление этой теме возникло после 2001 г. в контексте конфронтации между историками и коммунистическим правительством, которое стало целенаправленно вводить историю Холокоста в школьную программу. Сталкиваясь с продвижением данной проблематики через Министерство образования, школьные учителя предпочитают поддерживать позицию профессиональных историков, решивших бросить вызов правительству и, соответственно, намеренно сторонятся преподавания и исследования темы Холокоста.
Translated Abstract
History is undergoing a serious politicization in the Republic of Moldova. This article brings to attention the topic of the Romanian Holocaust in Moldova’s schools, which vividly exemplifies this politicization. After 2001, when the Communist Party came to power, the Romanian Holocaust provoked heated debates among Moldovan historians. The voices of Holocaust deniers became predominant in historical circles after 2001 and, despite the public’s interest in the Romanian Holocaust, it did not make its way into the history curriculum of schools. The explanation relates directly to the confrontation that has been taking place between historians and the incumbent government. The core of this dispute can be reduced to different visions held by these groups as to the appropriate national identity
of the people of Moldova. The fight for these opposing visions has been transplanted onto the school system and the field of history.
The subject of the Holocaust was consciously co-opted and instrumentalized by the administration in its attempt to impress European audiences and marginalize the pro-Romanian model of identity that had dominated the pre-2001 period. Meanwhile, the majority of Moldovan historians chose to challenge the interests of the Communist government on this subject and, for that reason, deliberately avoided the Holocaust in their teaching and research. The state of affairs in Moldovan secondary schools reflects very much this unhealthy situation. When facing the issue of Holocaust studies, school teachers oscillate between their wish to support their professional colleagues and the fear of provoking the anger of the Ministry of Education. Interviews with history teachers conducted in Spring 2006 demonstrate the existence of a passive resistance to the authority’s instructions to promote Holocaust studies in secondary schools.
Partially, this attitude is shaped by the teachers’ belief that the fate of ethnic
Moldovans should predominate in study of Moldovan History, but in general
teachers chose to reject the study of the Holocaust in Romania because
they think it will «damage the national cause» of creating one national
identity between Romanians and Moldovans, and will improve the situation
of the Communist government. Although they recognize the excessive
politicization of this topic, they nevertheless saw the solution as not the depoliticization of this subject, but its complete avoidance.
of the people of Moldova. The fight for these opposing visions has been transplanted onto the school system and the field of history.
The subject of the Holocaust was consciously co-opted and instrumentalized by the administration in its attempt to impress European audiences and marginalize the pro-Romanian model of identity that had dominated the pre-2001 period. Meanwhile, the majority of Moldovan historians chose to challenge the interests of the Communist government on this subject and, for that reason, deliberately avoided the Holocaust in their teaching and research. The state of affairs in Moldovan secondary schools reflects very much this unhealthy situation. When facing the issue of Holocaust studies, school teachers oscillate between their wish to support their professional colleagues and the fear of provoking the anger of the Ministry of Education. Interviews with history teachers conducted in Spring 2006 demonstrate the existence of a passive resistance to the authority’s instructions to promote Holocaust studies in secondary schools.
Partially, this attitude is shaped by the teachers’ belief that the fate of ethnic
Moldovans should predominate in study of Moldovan History, but in general
teachers chose to reject the study of the Holocaust in Romania because
they think it will «damage the national cause» of creating one national
identity between Romanians and Moldovans, and will improve the situation
of the Communist government. Although they recognize the excessive
politicization of this topic, they nevertheless saw the solution as not the depoliticization of this subject, but its complete avoidance.
Topics
Holocaust Holocaust Denial Holocaust Education Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial Schools: Seconday / High Schools
Genre
Geographic Coverage
Original Language
Volume/Issue
1(3)
Page Number / Article Number
27-38
Bibliographic Information
B Лабиринте Политизации: Преподавание Холокоста В Школах Республики Молдов. 2008: 27-38. https://archive.jpr.org.uk/object-2653
