Teaching the Holocaust is not enough to tackle antisemitism in schools

For many pupils, their principal encounters with Jewish people in the curriculum come through religious education, where Judaism may be reduced to festivals and religious practices, and history, where Jews are most often encountered as victims of the Holocaust.

Both subjects are important. But if these are the only ways in which pupils encounter Jewish people, we have failed them.

I am not Jewish. I spent 12 years as a history teacher in Rotherham and am now Director of Learning & Engagement at the National Holocaust Museum. My work has shown me both the transformative power of good Holocaust education and the danger of expecting it to do everything.

Sir David Bell’s independent review into antisemitism in schools and colleges should concern us all. One in five young people surveyed said they had witnessed or experienced antisemitism, rising to almost three in five among Jewish respondents. Jokes, stereotypes and derogatory comments were the forms most commonly identified.

The government has accepted all 27 recommendations. The challenge now is to turn them into meaningful change in classrooms.

Pupils need a secure historical understanding of the Holocaust, including the central role of antisemitism. They must understand how prejudice becomes normalised, how democratic institutions are undermined and how ordinary people can become complicit in persecution.

But Holocaust education alone is not a silver bullet for contemporary antisemitism. Learning about its catastrophic consequences in the 1930s and 1940s does not automatically equip young people to recognise the forms it takes today. Nor does it teach them about the diversity of Jewish life.

At the National Holocaust Museum, we worked with Oakwood Academy Trust to identify opportunities to represent Jewish people across its curriculum. We found 35.

Having spent years in the classroom, I knew teachers did not need another 35 lessons added to an already crowded timetable. They needed manageable ways to build this knowledge into what they were already teaching.

In a Year 7 geography lesson exploring who lives in Africa, a reference to Ethiopian Jews can broaden pupils’ understanding of both African communities and Jewish identity. When pupils study The Merchant of Venice, some carefully chosen material can help them examine the antisemitic tropes associated with Shylock.

Small changes matter. Jewish people have been part of British and global history, literature, science, politics and culture. Their presence should be reflected accordingly—not confined to religious studies or introduced only at the point at which they become victims.

This wider understanding is particularly important now. Since October 2023, teachers have increasingly told us about their anxieties around teaching the Holocaust. Their concern is often less about the historical content than about the conversations that may follow: the Holocaust, Jewish people, Israel and then the contemporary conflict in the Middle East.

Teachers can suddenly find themselves discussing Israel and Gaza with pupils who have little prior understanding of Jewish identity, Jewish history or the diversity of Jewish perspectives. Some worry about saying the wrong thing or receiving complaints. Others may avoid difficult conversations altogether.

The answer is not to avoid either Holocaust education or controversial contemporary issues. It is to give teachers the knowledge and confidence to manage them well.

That includes distinguishing legitimate criticism of an Israeli government from anti-Jewish racism and recognising tropes involving Jewish power, wealth, influence, dual loyalty or collective responsibility. It also means challenging prejudice constructively, without assuming that every pupil repeating a stereotype understands its history or significance.

Teachers also need to know what to do when antisemitism occurs. When I taught in Rotherham, I had never heard of the Community Security Trust and would not have known that I could contact it for advice or report an incident. Many teachers outside Jewish schools and communities may be in the same position.

The Bell Review gives us a framework for change: stronger Holocaust education, Jewish life represented throughout the curriculum, specific training on anti-Jewish racism, clearer reporting routes and practical guidance for difficult conversations.

We should not expect Jewish pupils, parents or staff to carry this responsibility. Nor should we expect teachers to navigate it without support.

Every pupil should leave school with a secure understanding of the Holocaust, a better knowledge of Jewish life and the ability to recognise and challenge anti-Jewish racism wherever they encounter it.