(The NCJW Research Institute for Innovation in Education (RIFIE
This study provides insights about attitudes toward heroes and role models in German and Israel. We expected German and Israeli school textbooks and teachers to provide varying renditions for the traumatic effects of World War II and the Holocaust, and for students to express different attitudes about the role of heroes in their lives. In contrast, the study found that German and Israeli adolescents share perceptions about heroes and role models, suggesting that either there are no such models today or that heroes and role models are overblown and dangerous for democracy. In doing so they reflect a broader consensus among their teachers and the school textbooks they use.
