Holocaust education in Pa.: A must, not a may

Ilene Munetz Pachman

is a writer and retired teacher in Bucks County who helped lead the successful effort to honor Raoul Wallenberg with a commemorative U.S. postage stamp

The Pennsylvania Senate could vote as early as Monday on a potentially historic piece of legislation, the newly amended bill to mandate Holocaust education.

Nearly 70 years after the Nazi death camps of World War II were liberated, and with genocide still occurring in our explosive world, it's past time for our educators to teach the lessons of the Holocaust. In fact, it's the precise time for our State Senate to pass the bill (which would return to the House, where the legislative language has been weaker) and, hopefully, finally - a wonderful prospect - get it before Gov. Corbett for his signature.

On Dec. 9, the Senate Appropriations Committee changed the language in the bill, from may teach the Holocaust back to shall. The amended legislation echoes earlier bills proposed by State Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Phila.) and State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams (D., Phila.). When House Republicans voted down Boyle's bill, State Rep. Paul Clymer (R., Bucks) proposed the compromise that did not mandate Holocaust education.

There is strong and growing support in the Senate for the mandated language, and countless educators, who are part of a statewide coalition, recognize its importance. However, the word mandate has taken on an ugly connotation in some education circles because of the cumulative burden of other mandates placed on Pennsylvania's teachers.

I don't see how the teaching of World War II in public schools, which have both American and world history as part of their curriculum, can be complete without learning about Hitler's systematic extermination of six million Jews (two of every five in existence) and an additional five million people whom he diabolically described as subhuman.

To believe that the study of the Holocaust is merely a "Jewish issue" is to reveal a blatant and critical lack of education. Mike Crossey, president of the Pennsylvania State Educators Association, says Holocaust teaching focuses on "a human rights issue," as is the teaching of "atrocities around the world." Crossey says, "By learning and understanding history, our children, hopefully, will be able to make wise decisions for the future," rather than repeat disastrous "mistakes," let alone "atrocities" of the kind shockingly condoned and carried out during World War II.

It's heartening to know that the Philadelphia School District and various suburban districts already enthusiastically implement Holocaust education as part of their curriculums. Yet, as local activist and author Rhonda Fink-Whitman clearly illustrates with the widely viewed YouTube video she has produced, there is a stunning dearth of knowledge about the Holocaust among Pennsylvania college students.

While filming portions of her documentary on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, Fink-Whitman was told by one student that she thought the Holocaust happened around 1800. Another student was unfamiliar with Anne Frank. So I'm sure students are equally unfamiliar with the courage and altruism of Miep and Jan Gies, the Christian couple who helped hide the Frank family and four other Dutch Jews until they were betrayed.

With fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors still alive, and with Holocaust deniers ranting their lies, Pennsylvania students must be fortified with the historical truth.

Holocaust education is already mandated in New Jersey, New York, Florida, Illinois, and California. Pennsylvanians need to immediately encourage their state lawmakers to vote yes for a mandate here so the teaching of World War II will be much more responsible and complete.