Informed Principles of Holocaust Education: Why and How Holocaust Denial Should Be Taught

The education system, especially in United States history classes, has been used to prevent repeated violence by teaching youth on historical events with the use of Critical Race Theory and Trauma-Informed teaching. These pedagogies have been applied to various disciplines, but especially Holocaust Education. Although many believe that educators should teach the Holocaust as a historical event with no opposing perspectives, some believe Holocaust denial should also be included in the curriculum. By now, the “both sides” argument is familiar to anyone following US politics. In my paper, I propose a third option: I want to suggest that teaching students the history of Holocaust denial and book banning as well as encouraging students to see these histories in relationship to Nazi aesthetics and the extension of Nazi logic better equip students to become effective critical thinkers. By teaching the history and arguments around these ideologies, this will allow students to be better informed critics of Holocaust denial.