This student thesis seeks answers on history teachers´ view on the purpose of their subject, how their view on the purpose affects their teaching and how all of this affects the possibilities given to the students who study the past. The Swedish teaching plan and the curriculum of the subject history are loaded with tension. Based on this tension Swedish students attending secondary school are, on one hand supposed to affirm a certain way of understanding the past while on the other hand be educated in critical and independent thinking. In other words, the subject of history could either confirm a certain view of the past or critically view it. It is also worth pointing out that one does not cancel the other out. History teaching can contain both perspectives. While it would be interesting to apply our main questions on the whole course of the subject of history the main focus of this thesis lies within the theme of genocide. Based on interviews with Swedish history teachers this thesis explores what they see as the purpose of their subject and in particular the purpose in the theme of genocide teaching. What approach does teachers have in their teaching and how does this affect the possibilities given to the students? The result shows that history teachers´ main focus lies in more concrete knowledge, thereby excluding the previous statement about critical thinking. History teachers are also dissatisfied with the time given to the subject of history in upper secondary school. Although the teachers mainly focus on confirming certain views of the past there are teachers who, in some cases, lean towards a teaching method with critical thinking as the focal point. The respondents also vary in the way they give students possibilities to meet the past. These possibilities are often predetermined by the teachers and students’ possibilities to express critical thinking is therefore reduced and limited. While this student thesis is based around the theme of genocide teaching, the result does not necessarily suggest that the students never get the opportunity to express free critical thinking. Therefore, the result shows that the purpose of the subject of history, as presented by the interviewees, is multilayered and seldom based around only one given perspective.