Using Children’s Picture Books and Graphic Novels as a Pedagogical Tool in Teaching about the Holocaust
Using Children’s Picture Books and Graphic Novels as a Pedagogical Tool in Teaching about the Holocaust

Summary/Abstract: In Romania, during the last three decades, there have been prominent people who denied or minimized the existence of the Holocaust, in general, or its occurrence in Romania, which has influenced the perception of the general population. Therefore, in addition to passing legislative measures to combat the spreading of historical misinformation, the authorities initially introduced an optional subject on the Holocaust in school. This was recently made mandatory, its scope being to prepare future generations to confront any disinformation regarding this event. Yet, the introduction of a history of the Holocaust wherein teachers explain theoretically the events and assign as homework readings from autobiographical journals and novels will not suffice, as the current young generations need modern ways of teaching that introduce graphic novels and comics into the classrooms. Furthermore, the mandatory History of the Holocaust should be supplemented with events set up for presen­tations of additional researchers and papers, and librarian-led educa­tional programs on the Holocaust based on picture books and graphic novels dedicated to primary-school and high-school students. After a preliminary presentation of the context for introducing the History of the Holocaust as a subject in the Romanian school curriculum, this paper underlines the importance of multi-modal books in teaching, in general, and in the Holocaust education, specifically. The research will not only emphasize why teachers and librarians should use multi-modal books in their teaching, but also explain how they can integrate those books into their activities by offering examples of such integration.

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