I am astonished that, as part of the revision of the new GCSE courses, the Holocaust has been omitted from exam board Edexcel’s specifications from September 2001.
As educators, it is our moral duty to teach each generation about the horrors of the Holocaust. If it “slips” off the syllabus, there is a real risk that society’s collective memory will fade.
The timing of the decision is remarkable considering the etablishment of Holocaust Memorial Day and the creation of the brilliant Holocaust exhibition at the Imperial War Museum.
I hope Edexcel will reconsider their decision and re-establish the Holocaust as the central aspect of any study of Nazi Germany (having it as a coursework option is not satisfactory).
David Rogerson On behalf of the history department Lord Williams’s School Oxford Road, Thame, Oxon