Analyses how the organisational framework of instruction in Germany shapes the treatment of National Socialism as a topic and gives it a specific pedagogical form; it gives rise to a tension between the need to provide an adequate representation of Nazi crimes and to fulfill the goals of moral education. They use four cases to illustrate the dilemma. They draw attention to a paradox: how can teachers develop students' autonomous judgement while directing the moral outcomes to be achieved? They also focus the reader on a critical issue: the diverse pre-existing knowledge and understandings that students bring to the classroom and their implications for the process and the group as a whole.