There is a moment many teachers will recognise. A hand goes up during a lesson on the Holocaust, or a quiet comment is made at the back of the room, and the atmosphere changes. You know the remark matters, but you are also aware of the limited time, the young people in front of you, and the wider world pressing in. Anti-Jewish racism does not always appear loudly. Sometimes it arrives as a question, a comparison, a joke or something framed as curiosity. Knowing how to respond in that moment is not always straightforward.

This is not about blame. It is about recognising that Anti-Jewish racism does appear in classrooms, especially during Holocaust education and around Holocaust Memorial Day, and that teachers deserve support so they can respond with confidence rather than fear. Recent reporting has shown a sharp decline in the number of schools taking part in Holocaust Memorial Day activities, with many teachers saying they feel less able to engage with the topic in the current climate. This is deeply concerning at a time when incidents of Anti-Jewish racism are rising.

International research reflects the same pattern. A major UNESCO study published in 2026 found that most teachers across Europe have encountered Anti-Jewish incidents in their classrooms, including hate speech, Holocaust distortion and targeted harassment. The report also highlighted that many educators have never received training on how to address these issues, leaving them feeling unprepared and anxious when prejudice surfaces. UNESCO described the levels of hate speech and Holocaust distortion in schools as “deeply alarming,” noting that these attitudes are becoming more mainstream rather than confined to the margins.

Research in the UK already shows that four in ten secondary teachers have encountered anti-Jewish racism from students, including denial, conspiracy theories and harmful stereotypes. The additional finding that many schools are now avoiding Holocaust related events altogether only increases the pressure on those who continue this work. Teachers often describe feeling worried about opening conversations they fear may spiral, or about saying the wrong thing in an already tense environment.

At the National Holocaust Museum, we see both the challenges and the commitment. School visits have risen significantly over the past few years, showing that many educators still value Holocaust education and actively seek guidance. What has changed is the nature of the questions students bring with them.

Since 7 October, I have been asked questions such as, “Why are they doing in Gaza what happened to them?” As an education team, we have had to think carefully about how we respond. We do not know these young people; we are often with them for only a few hours. Our role is not to resolve global politics, but to help students think critically, responsibly and thoughtfully about what they are saying. It is also important to recognise that the current conflict is often described using vague language, which can make it harder for students to understand what they are actually referring to.

One of the most important lessons we have learned is that overwhelming students with facts rarely works. Shutting the conversation down does not work either. What helps is slowing things down and asking clear, calm questions. A useful starting point is often, “Who do you mean by ‘they’?” Are students talking about the Israeli government, Israeli civilians or Jewish people? Very often those distinctions have not been made and helping students separate them is an important educational step.

It is also important to acknowledge reality. People are suffering. Conflict causes real harm. But we must also be clear about what is different. The Holocaust was a state led genocide with the explicit aim of destroying Jewish life entirely. Holding that distinction does not minimise anyone else’s pain, but it does prevent false equivalence and helps students understand history on its own terms.

Teachers are also encountering something different from the classic forms of Holocaust denial. Two patterns are becoming more common: glorification and inversion. Glorification is usually linked to the far right. It involves using Nazi symbols, slogans or references in a way that treats them as something to admire or joke about. This might appear in online memes, in comments about “strong leadership,” or in casual references to Nazi language that are meant to shock or provoke. Inversion is more common on parts of the far left. It takes the history of the Holocaust and turns it upside down by claiming that “Israel is the new Nazi,” or by suggesting that Jewish people today are behaving like their former persecutors. Both of these are forms of anti-Jewish racism. They are not viewpoints that need to be debated in the classroom.

It is important to stay calm when these ideas appear. A steady tone helps students feel safe and keeps the conversation grounded. It is appropriate to say that the Holocaust is one of the most thoroughly documented genocides in history, and that comparing it to current conflicts does not help anyone understand either the past or the present. From there, the focus can move to why people use history in these ways, where these ideas come from, and the harm they cause. This approach allows teachers to challenge the behaviour without giving the harmful ideas more space than they deserve.

We also see anti-Jewish racism directed at the Museum itself, particularly on social media. Under posts about free educational resources or Holocaust survivor talks, we regularly see comments minimising the Holocaust or deflecting with “what about Gaza?” These comments do not appear under posts about Bosnia, Rwanda or Sudan. They appear where Jewish people or the Holocaust are being discussed.

When this happens, a helpful approach is not to frame the response as “why aren’t we talking about other conflicts,” but to help students think about why Jewish suffering is so often met with comparison or deflection. Asking what they think connects these topics can open up important conversations about bias, stereotypes and the way anti Jewish racism operates in contemporary discourse.

I know how difficult this can be. Before working at the Museum, I taught for fourteen years in a very ethnically diverse school in Rotherham during a period of intense local controversy. I understand how external events and politics can seep into lessons and make classrooms feel tense and unpredictable. I also know how tempting it can be to move on quickly rather than sit with discomfort.

But if we want to challenge prejudice, we must bring it into the open. That means asking questions of our students and having those difficult conversations. What do you mean by that? Where have you heard it? Who is saying this? Why do you think that idea has taken hold? It means helping students think about provenance, reliability and how ideas spread.

Holocaust education is not only about the past. It is about recognising the early warning signs in the present. When anti-Jewish racism surfaces and we choose silence, especially at a time when fewer schools feel able to engage with Holocaust remembrance at all, we miss the opportunity to do the very work survivors have spent their lives urging us to do.