Are Holocaust courses obligatory in Germany?

Question

I read that on The Telegraph Media Group.

Answer 1

I read that somewhere too, but don't know for sure.  We need to hear from some German students.

Answer 2

Let me try to figure out what you mean: There aren't any special classes on the Holocaust. But in history class, once you reach the 20h century, of course you learn about the Holocaust, too.

Also, given that the Holocaust was such a significant event in European and particularly German history, if come up a lot in other subjects and is dealt with there, too. Sometimes because you may discuss a piece by a Holocaust victim or survivor in Music class. Sometimes because it may come up as a subject in German literature. Sometimes the issue of persecution comes up in Religious Education classes etc.

So as far as there being a curriculum that includes the Holocaust, the issue itself is indeed one of the set subjects pupils are taught about, but there are no special classes dealing with this subject issue alone.

Answer 3

My school curriculum included, and curricula still do, a very long chapter about the holocaust. History courses are obligatory in every German school, and of course you're taught about the holocaust. I was lucky to have the chance to go to a "Gymnasium", which means that I got the approval to go to university one day, and the holocaust was a big topic in history lessons. We were offered to visit a concentration camp (KZ), which nowadays are memorials, which was volontary, and we could choose between the KZ memorial in Dachau, Germany, or Mauthausen, Austria. The majority opted for Mauthausen, we were there, we saw it (just the memorial, remember! They left some barracks and the gas chamber, not much more), and everybody on the bus when we drove home was silent. It's true that seeing is believing.

I'd recommend to any holocaust denier not to go to the holocaust memorial in Berlin, which is only a couple of stones, but to visit one of the KZ sites. They'd think otherwise once they were there.