Constructing greek nation’ s image; the greek-jewish community and Shoah in school and public history
This thesis attempts to explore the link between school and dominant ideology, through the conceptualization of school knowledge and detecting the role of the Curriculum shaping the national identity of student-subjects. In particular, the thesis attempts to focus on the relation between history and ideology through the lens of the nation-making role of the History school course, and the use of the term “nation” in school history. As field of research were selected compulsory education history textbooks, in particular those of the 6th Grade of Primary School and the 3rd Grade of Secondary School. In these is investigated the representation of the Greek nation and the presentation –or not– of ethnic otherness within it, having as a case study the Greek-Jewish community, in terms of how visible it is and the recording of the genocide (Shoah) in Greek history. On one hand, the research sees school textbooks as convenient material for exhibiting institutional choices and the framework of teaching concepts, such as ‘nation’, as defined by the State. On the other hand, it has as a starting point the role of school history as public History, and seeks to explore the visibility of the Jewish community and of the ‘Shoah’ in the other public uses of History, by detecting to what degree the Greek-Jews and the Shoah are perceived as part of the national identity.