Stages in its evolution from 1946-2011
Diaspora negation
 Shame: “lambs to the
slaughter”
 Stories were not solicited
 Survivors were implicitly
accused: Non-Zionists, “The
good ones died”
 Minimal teaching on
Holocaust
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“The trouble with the Diaspora Jews is that
they preferred the life of a beaten dog to an
honorable death” (Yitzhak Grinbaum)
“Why don’t the Jews of Hungary defend
themselves?” (Davar daily newspaper in
Palestine, Front page, June 1944)
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“Our children read and hear a lot about the
destruction of the Diaspora, the atrocities
which were committed to our brethren and
their suffering, but their hearts remains
indifferent. …This is not surprising. Our
youth is tall and proud in stature and spirit.
They believe in their powers and know their
worth. They love freedom and strive for open
space. They would never tolerate any
oppression”. (Weronovski, 1954)
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“No one believed me. They asked questions and
asked investigative queries as if I were a criminal
who wanted to cheat people” (Kurtz)
“I wanted to be asked about what had happened
to me “there” . My story was the only property I
owned. But no one asked”. (Miriam Weinfeld)
“That’s the tragedy of the survivor’s mission. He
has to tell a story that cannot be told. He has to
convey a message that cannot be conveyed” (Eli
Wiezel)
 Reparations
dispute - 1952
 Kastner trial - 1953
 Drawing lessons from Kfar
Kassem Massacre - 1956
“Every
IDF soldier has the obligation to refuse a
blatantly illegal order”.
“The Jewish soldier will never be aided by the claim “I
only filled orders”. He must understand what he is
asked to do. Evil must be stopped way before it
becomes at all similar to that of the Holocaust”
paraphrase, Judge Levi)
 Formal,
state level,
collective
 Focus on bravery
 Impersonal: “Six million”
 At the same time –
attempt to list witnesses.
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Three educational stances were developed:
The Holocaust should be taught to
strengthen Zionist identity and prove its
necessity.
The Holocaust should be used to strengthen
humanist values.
Historical knowledge of what took place
should be stressed.
Eichmann’s trial
 The pre-Six day War
anxiety
 The Yom Kippur war
sense of defeat
 The 1977 political
change.

 Focus
on the personal
Stories and suffering
 First popular renditions
of second generation
(“Dust and ashes”)
 The “Each person has a
name” project.
“I escaped from
Auschwitz”
The Holocaust
Encyclopedia
Voted
“Most
important
Israeli
album
ever”.
Educational visits to Poland
 March of the living
 Thousands of studies,
books, on Holocaust
 Political message of fear
 “privatization” offered
 Critique of Holocaust
commemoration raised.

Jewish+Zionist identity closely tied
with Holocaust
 Strong sense of “never again”
 Sense of being alone in the world.
 Sense of victimhood (sharp change
from Israelis as entirely heroic)
 Arabs grouped with all others who
wish for the demise of the Jews.
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Used for different political agendas.
Differentiated by groups: Orthodox, UltraOrthodox, children, GLBT, the deaf, and so on.
Critique is sometime expressed of mainstream
messages and education in light of Holocaust.
Alternative ceremonies focus on personal
perspectives.
Call is made for more universal content.
Some call is made for “moving on”.