Teaching about the Roma Genocide

 Inclusion of the topic in the school curriculum

The Roma Genocide in World War II is included in the 8th grade primary school History Curriculum. (Primary School Curriculum, Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, p. 290, 2006). Under topic no. 6, “Second World War”, key concepts are discussed: politics of abatement, Three-Power Pact, blitzkrieg, Holocaust, Genocide, concentration camps, antifascist coalition, total war, victims and mass killings in Croatia. Educational achievements include: describing how and under which conditions the Independent State of Croatia was established, evaluating the Ustasha regime and condemning the politics of terror against citizens (particularly Serbs, Jews and Roma) as well as racial laws and concentration camps (Jasenovac).

In secondary schools, the Genocide against the Roma is taught in history classes in the final year of three-year and four-year schools. The attitude towards the Roma in this period is taught in lessons about occupied Europe and the Independent State of Croatia (Secondary School Curriculum, Ministry of Education and Sports, p. 173, 1995) and it includes: the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), territory of the NDH, governmental organisation of the NDH, relations between NDH and Italy and Germany, the dictatorship of the Ustasha regime and the connection to the fate of the regime’s advocates.

On 29 October 2015, the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports has released a Public Call for the selection of prospective members of the Expert Working Group for the Development of Draft Curriculum on Nurturing Language and Culture of Roma National Minority in Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Republic of Croatia (Model C). On 9 December 2015, the Minister of Science, Education and Sports has passed the Decision on the appointment of the Expert Working Group. The Draft Curriculum publication is planned for June 2016.

The objective of the Expert Working Group is to produce a Draft Curriculum on Nurturing Language and Culture of Roma National Minority in Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Republic of Croatia (Model C). The Draft Curriculum is expected to include: definition of purpose, goals and learning outcomes of the subject, the contents, principles of learning and teaching, learning process arrangement, as well as the evaluation, rating and reporting principles.

The Draft Curriculum is intended to encompass all levels and types of education that make the groundwork for the subject.

The effort of the Working Group members directly contributes to the attainment of measure 2.4.1 titled Early and Preschool, Elementary and Secondary Education of the Education, Science and Technology Strategy.

Concerning the holocaust and the introduction of history of Roma into the curricula, the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports has published proposed national curricula for all school subjects on 29 February 2016 (including a draft History Curriculum), which are currently undergoing an expert debate.

 Inclusion of the topic in the school textbooks

The topic of the Roma Genocide against the Roma in World War II is included in school textbooks for primary schools (ISCED level 2 – history textbook for 8th grade of primary school) and secondary schools (ISCED level 3 – history textbook for 4th grade of secondary school), whilst in higher education this topic is covered as part of education of future history teachers.

 Training of teachers and education professionals

Since 2007, within the framework of the Pestalozzi programme, there has been an annual European workshop giving the Croatian teachers the opportunity to present and share their classroom teaching experiences. These workshops are noteworthy in both quantitative and qualitative terms for not only the knowledge they transmit but also the material which can be directly used by teachers and the emphasis placed on Jasenovac, a genuinely historically symbolic site, as a teaching tool.

In the frame of the cooperation with Yad Vashem – the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority in the State of Israel, 25 in-service teacher training scholarships are awarded each year. This is a common practice since the year 2005, since 2013 based on the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Holocaust Education between the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia, the Education and Teacher Training Agency of the Republic of Croatia an Yad Vashem. This teaching training course also introduces the attendees to Genocide of the Roma.

The Education and Teacher training Agency in cooperation with “Memorial de la Shoah” in the French Republic, organize and annual Conference on teaching about the Holocaust for 20 teachers from the Republic of Croatia. The aim of Conference is to enable participants to expand their knowledge about Holocaust through a detailed insight into the various aspects of the suffering of Jews and Roma in the period before and during the 2nd World War, Nazi Germany and Vichy France, but also to improve and empower their teaching skills and competences, appropriate to the age and previous knowledge of their students.

In cooperation of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports and The Embassy of the United States of America, several more scholarships are also available by the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, as well as by the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous and Association of the Holocaust Organizations.

On 27th January – The Day of Holocaust Remembrance and for the Prevention of Crimes against the Humanity, the Ministry and the Agency organize every year a national in-service teacher training seminar “Teaching and learning about Holocaust and the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity” and a follow-up seminar for exchanging of teaching experience for the teachers who attended the seminar in Israel. Presentations as well as completed teaching units and various teaching materials are also published on the official Croatian and English web sites of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports.

Short preview of the Seminar held in 2009 is visible on this link.

The annual seminar is an excellent opportunity for Croatian teachers to broaden their knowledge, learn how to deal with the issue of Holocaust in their teaching, become involved in international projects for schools, and share and connect with others, nationally and internationally.

The Conference "Teaching about the Holocaust and the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity", organised by the Croatian Education and Teacher Training Agency in Zagreb, from 27th January to 30th January 2013, gave the opportunity to Loranda Miletić, Senior Adviser for History Education and a member of the Croatian delegation to the IHRA, and Karen Polak to present teaching materials called "The Fate of Roma and Sinti during the Holocaust".

Seminar “Teaching and learning about Holocaust and the prevention of crimes against humanity” was organised by the Croatian Education and Teacher Training Agency in Zagreb 2009.

In 2012, the Education and Teacher Training Agency organised its annual seminar “Teaching about the Holocaust and the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity” for Croatian primary and secondary school teachers, from 25 to 27 January, in Zagreb and at the Jasenovac Memorial Site. The annual seminar is an excellent opportunity for Croatian teachers to broaden their knowledge, learn how to deal with the issue of Holocaust in their teaching, become involved in international projects for schools, and share and connect with others, nationally and internationally.

The Conference "Teaching about the Holocaust and the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity", organised by the Croatian Education and Teacher Training Agency in Zagreb, from 27th January to 30th January 2013, gave the opportunity to Loranda Miletić, an inspector of history education and a member of the Croatian delegation to the IHRA, and Karen Polak to present teaching materials called "The Fate of Roma and Sinti during the Holocaust".

 Particular activities undertaken at the level of education institutions

In 1999, the National Programme for Human Rights Education was adopted. It defines the aim of teaching about the Holocaust as not only to learn about and preserve the memory of the period of unprecedented suffering but also to reflect on what each individual should do to prevent Anti-Semitism, intolerance and any crime against humanity.

The Ministry of Science, Education and Sports continually promotes the creation of additional teaching material for education about the Holocaust and the training of teachers in Croatia and abroad. At least one copy of the printed version of this material is distributed to each Croatian school.