The Development Of Moral Attitudes Through Holocaust Learning Program

Abstract

This paper describes the process of the development of moral attitudes among Israeli high-school students when faced with Holocaust moral dilemmas in their Holocaust learning program at school. 102 Israeli high school students aged from 16-17 boys and girls, aged from 16-17 took part in this research voluntarily. They are members of the third generation after the Holocaust which means that they had relatives who were Holocaust victims and survivors. The research was conducted in January 2015, when the students were in the middle of Grade 11 soon after they began the Holocaust Learning Program. The research tool was a Moral Attitudes Questionnaire describing seven dilemmas faced by the Jews during the Holocaust. Students were asked to respond by choosing possible solutions to the dilemmas. In these dilemmas, there is moral tension between solutions based on "deontological morality" versus solutions based on "survival morality". The results revealed a high level of deliberation between the two contradicting options given for each dilemma. However, it revealed that eventually more support was given to solutions based on "survival morality". It is concluded that participants recognized that in the unique reality of the Holocaust this was the "better" solution although it wasn't the "right" (deontological) moral decision.