A Matter of Comparison : The Holocaust, Genocides and Crimes against Humanity : an Analysis and Overview of Comparative Literature and Programs.

Recognizing the growing trend toward learning from the Holocaust to prevent further atrocities, this survey looks at comparative initiatives from all over the world.
Both the programs included and the literature listed in this overview shed light on the various ways the Holocaust is compared or contextualized in multiple settings and both contribute as well to ongoing discussions in the areas of education, remembrance, and research.

In 2010, the IHRA’s Education Working Group published a paper asking “Why relate the Holocaust to other genocides and crimes against humanity?” The answer suggests that “a clear and well-informed understanding of the Holocaust, the paradigmatic genocide, may help educators and students understand other genocides, mass atrocities, and human rights violations.”1
 The present report, commissioned by the IHRA Committee on the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity (CHGCH), takes this as a point of departure and offers an overview of comparative programs, projects, and literature on the Holocaust, genocide, and crimes against humanity in the fields of education, remembrance, and academic research. The aim is to provide the readers with a global perspective into the comparative focus with regards to the Holocaust.

Working Method

In preparing the report, we looked at more than 500 institutions and organizations.
The final list at the time of publication is comprised of around 120 entries, including academic institutions, memorial centers and programs, educational organizations and governmental bodies. The research was primarily undertaken online, beginning with investigating organizations on a number of lists compiled by others from Holocaust or genocide studies institutions and initiatives.2
 Most of these were not comparative in nature, but nonetheless served as a good starting point for the  researchers. This was then expanded by a second round of in-depth internet research and information provided by IHRA Member Countries and the researchers’ own extensive networks. The output varied in form, ranging from certified primary and secondary school curricula, to memorial exhibits, to course syllabi and originated from all over the world. As a supplement, the researchers also prepared a list of comparative literature, which includes theoretical and methodological work, as well as comparisons drawn between a number of other genocides, crimes against humanity, and current events. Though the compilation of organizations and literature is intended to be global and topically wide-ranging in scope, it is neither comprehensive nor exhaustive.

As stated in the foregoing introduction, this survey is meant to encompass projects, organizations, and literature that have a comparative focus in the arenas of education, academic research, and remembrance. Each deals with the Holocaust and at least one additional case. However, the treatment of the Holocaust within these institutions, organizations and programs varies. In consultation with the supervising team, we identified three “positions” into which we categorized the projects: 1) those that present both the Holocaust and genocides or crimes against humanity, which are sometimes compared and sometimes not; 2) those that take the Holocaust as a paradigmatic case against which others cases can be compared or particular histories discussed; and 3) and those that take the Holocaust as one among many cases for comparison. However, the purpose of this survey is not to assert that one category is preferable to another. Rather, we are attempting to gather information on the numerous ways in which the Holocaust is taught, studied, and used in memorialization alongside other cases in a comparative context in order to provide an overview of how such comparisons are being drawn and by whom.