Professor Zehavit Gross Lab

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Holocaust Education and Difficult Knowledge

Holocaust Education and Difficult Knowledge

Prof. Gross is internationally recognized for her scholarship on Holocaust education, collective memory, and the pedagogy of “difficult knowledge.” Her research investigates how adolescents and university students encounter traumatic histories, contested narratives, and moral dilemmas, and how these encounters can generate ethical reflection and post-traumatic growth.
A distinctive feature of her work is the integration of immersive VR testimony environments and AI-enhanced reflective tools that deepen moral inquiry while safeguarding emotional processing. Her research bridges cognitive understanding, emotional engagement, and civic responsibility in the teaching of genocide and collective trauma.

Selected Publications
Her publications examine memory transmission, youth journeys to Poland, trauma and resilience, post-October 7 educational realities, and innovative pedagogies for engaging genocide education responsibly.

Holocaust Education and Difficult Knowledge
Prof. Gross is internationally recognized for her extensive publications in Holocaust education, memory studies, and moral pedagogy. Her scholarship explores how adolescents and university students encounter “difficult knowledge” - traumatic histories, collective memory, and ethical dilemmas - and how such encounters shape moral responsibility and post-traumatic growth.
Her research addresses youth journeys to Poland, trauma transmission, resilience, genocide education, and the evolving pedagogical challenges of Holocaust memory in contemporary contexts. A distinctive dimension of her work is the integration of immersive technologies - including VR and AI-supported reflective platforms - to deepen ethical engagement with survivor testimony and historical memory.
Her publications contribute to global discussions on genocide education, collective memory, and the role of education in confronting historical injustice.

Additional / Interdisciplinary Works (Bridge Across the Three Areas)
These works connect strongly to your lab’s broader agenda (technology, non-formal education, resilience, bullying, leadership), and you may choose to place them on a separate “Interdisciplinary” page or distribute them under the three areas:

Books (Co-author)
Abd Algani, Y. M., & Gross, Z. (2024). A holistic view of practicing mathematics in the Israeli educational system. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Edited Volumes (Broader Comparative / Higher Education / Migration)

  • Davidovich, N., Gross, Z., Ribakov, Y., & Slobodianiuk, A. (Eds.). (2016). Quality, mobility, and globalization in higher education… Nova.
  • Gross, Z. (Ed.). (2020). Migrants and comparative education call to re/engagement. Brill.
  • Gross, Z., Benoliel, P., Bamberger, A., & Spektor-Levy, O. (submitted). Diverse Realities, Shared Futures… Emerald.

Articles (Bullying / resilience / trauma / digital competence)

  • Gefen, A., Gross, Z., & Heiman, T. (2025). Traditional and cyberbullying victimization among adolescents… Violence & Victims, 40(3), 437-454.
  • Rayan, H., Gross, Z., & Efrati, Y. (2025). Network analysis of early life trauma… Child Abuse & Neglect, 167, 107588.
  • Shaar, B. G., Gross, Z., & Efrati, Y. (2025). Young adults coping with sibling loss… Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma.
  • Holocaust Education, Memory, and Difficult Knowledge
  • Prof. Zehavit Gross is internationally recognized for her scholarship in Holocaust education, memory studies, and moral pedagogy. Her work advances a transformative paradigm for engaging “difficult knowledge” - traumatic histories, moral rupture, collective memory, and ethical responsibility - within contemporary educational systems. Moving beyond transmission-based models of remembrance, her research proposes a multidimensional approach that integrates cognitive inquiry, emotional processing, ethical reflection, and civic responsibility.
  • Situated at the intersection of memory studies, moral philosophy, trauma theory, and democratic education, her scholarship examines how adolescents and university students encounter contested narratives of genocide and how these encounters shape identity formation, moral agency, and post-traumatic growth. Her research addresses youth journeys to Poland, intergenerational trauma transmission, resilience, genocide education, and the evolving pedagogical challenges of Holocaust memory in increasingly polarized and digitally mediated societies.
  • A defining innovation of the laboratory is its integration of advanced immersive and participatory methodologies, including Virtual Reality (VR), immersive survivor testimony environments, AI-enhanced reflective platforms, and PhotoVoice participatory inquiry. VR environments deepen affective engagement with testimony while maintaining pedagogical structure; AI-supported systems scaffold ethical deliberation and meta-reflection; and Photo Voice empowers learners to critically document and interpret their own encounters with historical memory and moral complexity.
  • This integrative framework positions Holocaust education not merely as historical instruction, but as a civic laboratory for democratic responsibility - equipping young people to confront historical injustice, resist extremism and antisemitism, and engage responsibly with contested memory in an era marked by distortion, polarization, and technological transformation.

Holocaust Education, Memory, Trauma, and Difficult Knowledge (including VR/Simulation/AI)

Books (Editor / Major Volumes)

  • Gross, Z., & Stevick, D. E. (Eds.). (2015). As the witnesses fall silent: 21st century Holocaust education in curriculum, policy and practice. Springer.

Books (Work in Progress)

  • Gross, Z. (work in progress). Holocaust education and multiculturalism: Widening the debate. Brill.

Chapters in Books (Selected)

  • Gross, Z. (2012). Holocaust education and anti-Semitism in Western countries. In N. Davidovitch & D. Soen (Eds.), The Holocaust ethos in the 21st century (pp. 442–460). Austria Publishing House.
  • Stevick, D. E., & Gross, Z. (2013). Research in Holocaust education: Emerging themes and directions. In K. Fracapane & M. Haß (Eds.), Holocaust education in a global context (pp. 59–76). UNESCO.
  • Gross, Z. (2014). Teaching the Holocaust within the domain of religious education. In S. G. Parker et al. (Eds.), History, remembrance and religious education. Peter Lang.
  • Gross, Z. (2015). Hebrew research and Holocaust education discourse in Israeli society. In M. Eckmann et al. (Eds.), Research in teaching and learning about the Holocaust (pp. 169–186). Metropol Verlag & IHRA.
  • Gross, Z., & Stevick, D. E. (2015). Epistemological aspects of Holocaust education… In As the witnesses fall silent… (pp. 489–504). Springer.
  • Gross, Z. (2015). Between involuntary and voluntary memories… In As the witnesses fall silent… (pp. 111–135). Springer.
  • Gross, Z. (2020). Introduction: Remembering the Holocaust in religious education. In S. Altmeyer et al. (Eds.), Erinnerung an den Holocaust im Religionsunterricht (pp. 11–18). Kohlhammer.
  • Gross, Z. (2023). The Holocaust as a source for religious education and reflection among adolescents in Israel. In Z. Gross (Ed.), Reimagining the landscape of religious education (Springer).
  • Luria, E., Rothgangel, M., & Gross, Z. (2025). How to explore the power of virtual reality: A meta-reflection. In A. Ballis et al. (Eds.), Technology meets testimony (pp. 67–88). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.

Articles in Refereed Journals (Selected)

  • Gross, Z. (2010). Holocaust education in Jewish schools in Israel: Goals, dilemmas, challenges. Prospects, 40(1), 93–113.
  • Gross, Z. (2011). A typology for the development of Holocaust education scholarship. Curriculum and Teaching, 26(1), 81–95.
  • Gross, Z. (2012). Globalization and Holocaust education. Education and Society, 30(3), 79–93.
  • Gross, Z. (2018). Universalization of Holocaust education: Problems and challenges. Contemporary Jewry, 38(1), 5–20.
  • Gross, Z. (2020). Holocaust memory and cultural trauma: Israeli adolescents’ poetry and heritage journey to Poland. Discourse, 41(1), 57–69.
  • Shalom, M., & Gross, Z. (2022). Memory, narrative and empathy in teaching difficult knowledge. Frontiers in Education, 7, 866457.
  • Shalom, M., Luzzatto, E., & Gross, Z. (2024). Remember lest we forget… Israel Affairs, 30(2), 333–349.
  • Luria, E., Rothgangel, M., & Gross, Z. (2025). Enhancing immersion and affective engagement in Holocaust education through virtual reality. Educational Media International.
  • Luria, E., & Gross, Z. (accepted). Reflecting on virtual reality in Holocaust education in Israel… Israel Affairs.
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