European Textbooks: France Review
Author(s)
Publication Date
May 2025
Publisher
Abstract
IMPACT‑se’s France Textbook Review—part of our eight‑country Europe research program—examines how Jews, Judaism, Israel and antisemitism are portrayed across the national history curriculum (Grades 4–9) and leading high school textbooks (Grades 10–12), measuring alignment with UNESCO standards for peace and tolerance.
While the report finds solid content on Jewish-related themes including antisemitism, the Holocaust and Israel, it also highlights gaps that obscure the fuller story of Jewish life. In particular, there is room for expansion on Jewish contributions to French society, Napoleon’s Jewish emancipation and Vichy collaboration during the Holocaust. Due to France’s strict separation of state and religion, Jewish content is included only in historical and civic contexts.
France hosts Europe’s largest Jewish community (about 446,000 people), but antisemitic incidents have surged—from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023—and high‑profile attacks such as the 2012 Toulouse school shooting and the 2015 Hypercacher supermarket massacre underscore the importance of accurate education.
While the report finds solid content on Jewish-related themes including antisemitism, the Holocaust and Israel, it also highlights gaps that obscure the fuller story of Jewish life. In particular, there is room for expansion on Jewish contributions to French society, Napoleon’s Jewish emancipation and Vichy collaboration during the Holocaust. Due to France’s strict separation of state and religion, Jewish content is included only in historical and civic contexts.
France hosts Europe’s largest Jewish community (about 446,000 people), but antisemitic incidents have surged—from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023—and high‑profile attacks such as the 2012 Toulouse school shooting and the 2015 Hypercacher supermarket massacre underscore the importance of accurate education.
Topics
Antisemitism: Education against Holocaust Education Attitudes to Jews Attitudes to Israel Curriculum and Schoolbooks Main Topic: Education Religious Education
Genre
Geographic Coverage
Original Language
Link
Organisation homepage, European Textbooks: Poland Review
