New AJC Research Report Finds Czech Textbooks Slight Jewish Presence And Contributions; Holocaust, However, Receives Fuller Treatment

American Jewish Committee
Tuesday, 20 October 1998

Although Jews are an integral part of Czech history, Czech textbooks give scant attention to the presence and contributions of the Jewish community, while none deal with Judaism as a living religion. As against this, the Holocaust is treated in fuller fashion in Czech curricular materials.

These are among the key conclusions presented in an American Jewish Committee research report, "The Treatment of Jewish Themes in Czech Schools." The report, published simultaneously in English and Czech and released today at a special news conference in Prague, was prepared for the AJC by Dr. Leo Pavlat, Director of the Jewish Museum in Prague. Dr. Pavlat's publication is the second to appear under the auspices of AJC's Central and East European Curriculum Review Project, an initiative which seeks to examine what children in the post-Communist countries of the region learn in the classroom about Judaism, Jewish history, the Holocaust, and Israel. The Curriculum Review Project aims to spur curriculum reform where necessary. The first installment in the series dealt with Poland. Future publications will examine educational curricula in Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Croatia, Russia and elsewhere.

In his report, Dr. Pavlat notes that the restoration of democracy in the Czech Republic has led to considerable improvement in the educational sphere. Regrettably, however, these positive changes have had little impact on the way in which Jewish history, religion, and culture are treated in the classroom. As Dr. Pavlat explains: "General awareness of the Jewish presence and culture is low, and a certain section of society still adheres to anti-Semitic stereotypes. Moreover, many of today's teachers received their education and teaching practice during the communist era. Some of these people find it hard to get rid of old habits, and they feel uncomfortable with new and more creative methods of teaching. As the Jewish presence in the Czech Republic is almost invisible, teachers generally lack any personal experience of Jewish issues."

Among the problem areas cited in the report are the following:

1. Because Judaism is generally subsumed under Christianity in the curriculum, the legacy of Jewish monotheism is largely neglected, while Judaism as a living faith is completely ignored.

2. The persecution of Jews in the Middle Ages is treated in haphazard fashion, while the ideological basis of anti-Semitism—Jews as "Christ killers"—is greatly underplayed.

3. Jewish experience in the Czech lands receives only scattered attention, and is often presented in a distorted manner. Thus, the most widely used textbook discusses the Jews of Bohemia and Moravia only in connection with usury and the case of Simon Abeles, but manages to make reference to the Jews' "exclusive position, which no ruler's ban could change." Even such a key event as the expulsion of Jews from the whole of the country in 1541 is ignored in most textbooks. One textbook labels this expulsion a "hostile aberration," ignoring the fact that it was repeated in 1557 and then again in 1744-48.

4. The postwar fate of the Jewish population of Europe comes in for discussion only in connection with the establishment of the State of Israel. In the Czech context, only one textbook mentions the anti-Semitism of the communist regime, which was most evident in the political trials of the 1950s. As for the treatment of the State of Israel itself, it varies significantly from one textbook to the next; at times it is balanced and objective, at other times tilted against Israel.

In contrast to the above, Dr. Pavlat indicates, Czech textbooks published in the last few years do provide significant coverage of the Holocaust. These textbooks begin with the Nazi annexation of the Czech borderlands in autumn 1938 and the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939. They also discuss the confiscation of Jewish property, the Terezin concentration camp, and the statistics of the Holocaust in the Czech lands. The "tragedy of the Holocaust" is discussed separately, taking in such matters as the Wannsee Conference, the ghetto system in occupied Poland, the various concentration camps, and the total number of Jewish victims of the Nazis. One textbook even includes a map showing the location of concentration camps, another map indicating, country by country, the number of Jews annihilated by the Nazis, and two illustrations highlighting anti-Jewish propaganda and persecution.

Dr. David Singer, AJC Director of Research, commented: "Dr. Pavlat's report is remarkably thorough, making clear the gaps in the coverage of Jewish themes in Czech schools. The report is being released simultaneously in English and Czech so that it can serve as the basis for follow-up discussions with Czech educational officials. Jews have been integral to Czech history throughout the ages, and the Jewish experience merits significant attention in the textbooks employed in the classroom."

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org