Studying the Holocaust requires us to take an unflinching look at the extremes of the human experience.
We rightly celebrate stories of rescue and resistance. We honor those forced to make unimaginable choices, and we elevate the humanity demonstrated in those decisions. But if we stopped there, we would not truly be learning about the Holocaust.
To confront this history with honesty, we must also face the darkness — what humans are capable of when we isolate, marginalize, persecute and murder our fellow human beings. Without this confrontation, we are not dealing in truth. We cannot fully understand this history without confronting the capacity for cruelty, complicity and silence that allowed genocide to occur.
As Holocaust educators, we are skilled at navigating the very real sensitivities of our learners and the profound sensitivities of the victims’ experiences. Our goal is to provide a balanced, compassionate and honest engagement with history. While we make careful choices about content and imagery, we do not shy away from the full spectrum of decisions and consequences faced by individuals, groups and nations during the Holocaust. The Holocaust compels us to examine not just what happened, but how and why people made the choices they did.
To ignore or soften the ethical and moral choices that shaped this history risks becoming a form of denial — one that diminishes human agency and sidesteps the difficult truths that make this history relevant today. Only by engaging fully and honestly — especially with histories that call us to self-examination — can we truly learn. Sanitized retellings, partial truths and politicized narratives of history create fertile ground for misappropriation, distortion and denial.
At a time when historical revisionism and Holocaust denial are gaining traction, we are reminded of the essential role institutions like ours play in preserving and transmitting collective memory. The education system, museums and educational institutions like MCHE have long been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring accurate, ethical and meaningful engagement with history. We do not take this role lightly.
MCHE remains steadfast in our commitment to historical integrity, critical inquiry and compassionate education. Thank you for standing with us as we continue to confront the truth, however difficult.
Jessica Rockhold is the executive director of MCHE.
