NatioNal School textbookS oN WWii

czech Republic

lithuania

Russia

italy

Germany

Poland

The first images of the past, which are formed by school education and history text-books, are among the strongest. Textbooks bear the knowledge that a respective society wishes to pass on to the next generation. States use them as instruments for civic education, constructing narratives that foster identities, strengthen so-cietal cohesion, or even legitimise the ruling powers. Textbooks, especially history textbooks, pursue the great questions of human history, such as ‘who are we?’, ‘where did we come from?’ and ‘where are we going to?’. For a large number of students, working with their history textbook in school will be the most intensive and lasting encounter with history that they experience in their lifetimes.

As they are state-controlled, textbooks hold the reputation of being particularly objective and reliable. However, if we pick up a textbook from the past or from another country, we soon realise that this is a delusion. Textbooks communi-cate the spirit of their time and express the culture they are written in.

The exhibition “Different Wars” reveals the differences in the narration and perception of the history of the Second World War in modern high school text-books of the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland and Russia.

The choice of the subject is evident: WWII remains one of the most painful and conflicting episodes of the European nations’ memories. In Russia the victory in the Great Patriotic War is one of the most important pages of na-tional history. The exhibition shows and contrasts these varying historical narratives found in the school textbooks on WWII. By presenting national and thematic posters, it aims to uncover significant aspects of remem-brance. Visitors have a chance to “go through” the pages and learn about teaching methods of history textbooks of the different countries.

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this exhibition is not a purely academic exercise, but rather a collective work of historians, civil society activists, history teachers and enthusiasts. all of them form the working group “historical Memory and education” of the eU-Russia civil Society Forum. the group was established in 2013 by experts from six countries represented in the exhibition.

authors algis bitautas, Lithuanian University of Educational Science, Vilnius, LithuaniaSylwia bobryk, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United KingdomŠtefan Čok, Independent historian, Trieste, ItalyGiulia De Florio, Memorial Italia, Milan, Italyalicja Wancerz-Gluza, KARTA Centre, Warsaw, PolandFriedrich huneke, Leibniz Universität Hannover, GermanyNikita lomakin, Memorial International, Moscow, Russiakristina Smolijaninovaitė, EU-Russia Civil Society Forum - Secretariat, Berlin, Germanyterezie Vávrová, Antikomplex, z. s., Prague, Czech RepublicGudrun Wolff, Society of German-Russian Relationship, Münster/Münsterland, Germany

editorsRobert Maier, Georg Eckert Institute, Braunschweig, GermanyJulia Volmer-Naumann, Geschichtsort Villa ten Hompel, Münster, Germany Designer Mark kalinin, Taiga Creative Cluster, St. Petersburg, Russia advisors kamil Činátl, Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, Prague, Czech Republicandrea Gullotta, Memorial Italia, Milan, ItalyJerzy kochanowski, Historical Institute of the Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland Robert latypov, Youth Memorial, Perm, Russiaantonella Musumeci, Garibaldi High School of Humanities, Palermo, ItalyAnna Sevortian, EU-Russia Civil Society Forum - Secretariat, Berlin, GermanySusanne Sternthal, King’s College London, London, United KingdomMichaela Stoilová, Gulag.cz, Prague, Czech Republic

acknowledgementsJasper kruseMaria PavlikhinaJan krystian Scislowicz

antikomplex, z. s. Prague, Czech Republic German-Russian exchange Berlin, GermanyGulag.cz association Prague, Czech Republic kaRta centre Warsaw, PolandMemorial italia Milan, Italy Society of German-Russian Relationship Münster/Münsterland, Germany kostroma civic initiative Support center Kostroma, Russia Memorial international Moscow, Russia Youth Memorial Perm, Russia

While the idea of the exhibition was born in October 2013, the project itself started in October 2014.

We thank all institutions and individuals who contributed intellectually: experts from the Georg Eckert Institute (Braunschweig, Germany), the Geschichtsort Villa ten Hompel (Münster, Germany), the Lithuanian University for Education and Science (Vilnius, Lithuania), King’s College London (London, UK), the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (Prague, Czech Republic), the Leibnitz University (Hannover, Germany), and many other wonderful people.

The exhibition is kindly supported by the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum, the European Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the OAK Foundation and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

contactEU-Russia Civil Society Forum SecretariatE-mail: history-info@eu-russia-csf.orgTel.: + 49 30 46 06 45 40

Photo credits Cover photo: Inhabitants of Warsaw are leaving the town after the Warsaw Uprising, October 1944. ©Archive of KARTA Centre

A Wehrmacht firing squad executing Soviet civilians. ©bpk-image | Watching the German troops coming to the city of Eger, Sudetenland. ©Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-H13160 | Liberation of forced labourers in Buchenwald concentration camp. Source: Wikimedia | The 43 martyrs of Fondotoce. Frontlake in Verbania, 20 June 1944. Source: Wikimedia | In this pit in Paneriai inmates were forced to burn and dig graves for Jews murdered by the Nazis. Source: 12th grade textbook Tamošaitis, p. 189 | Exhumation of a mass grave in Katyń, 1943. Source: Wikimedia | The evacuation to the East. 1942. Source: Kiselyov, Popov, p. 165

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