Public and private memory: teaching the Holocaust in French classrooms

Abstract

ABSTRACT History teachers are unique in their practice of memory, for they have opted, whether consciously or unconsciously, for a profession which advances a collective understanding of the past. This article explores teachers’ intergenerational memories of the Holocaust and the Second World War in France, analysing how these influenced the way in which teachers approached these histories in their classrooms. Through ‘life history’ interviews conducted with teachers in France in 2018, it asks whether teachers found personal or family histories to be “useful” in the classroom, or whether they remained silent or hidden.