NSW kids 'don't know about Holocaust'

[Starr]

The Jewish community says it is "greatly concerned" NSW students can pass through school without learning about the Holocaust.

NSW Education Department head Michael Coutts-Trotter learned a month ago that the Holocaust had been omitted from the state's mandatory history course.

"You can get through compulsory schooling in NSW and never know that the Holocaust, the destruction of Jews in Europe, actually happened," he said in a speech to high school principals, reported by News Ltd.

"You will know a lot about Don Bradman, and that's terrific. But I think to live life, you need to know the Holocaust happened."(to live life? isn't that a bit much?)

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies Vic Alhadeff said on Thursday he was greatly concerned with the situation and commended Mr Coutts-Trotter for drawing attention to it.

"This is a matter of great concern to the Jewish community, which works towards social cohesion as a matter of principle," he said in a statement.

"To this end, the Board of Deputies is working in consultation with the NSW Department of Education, the NSW Board of Studies and other community groups, especially those whose histories include experiences of state-sponsored terror and genocide.

"We applaud Mr Coutts-Trotter for drawing attention to an issue which is germane to social cohesion in our society."

A spokeswoman for the NSW Board of Studies said it was not true that students had no opportunity to learn about the Holocaust.

"There are opportunities to study the Holocaust and its consequences in a number or ways in both mandatory and elective history," she said.

http://news.theage.com.au/national/nsw-kids-dont-know-about-holocaust-20080710-3coz.html

[Cadavre Exquis]

I made a comment on this before: http://www.thephora.net/forum/showpost.php?p=574541&postcount=9

The idea that learning about the H will somehow enrich your life or increase 'social cohesion' (how or why?) is ridiculous, especially in Australia. Learning about Nanking would be more appropriate, but I don't see a need for that either.

Realistically, any attempt to make the H a mandatory subject for all public school students will more than likely fail.

[Ahknaton]

I actually agree tbh. Schoolchildren should at the very least learn about WWI and WWII, and it's hard to imagine covering WWII without the Holocaust even being mentioned. I don't think it should necessarily be a covered as a separate topic however. FWIW we covered the Holocaust in History (including a trip to a Synagogue where we were shown black and white footage of corpses being burnt) when I was at school, although History was an elective topic so not everyone would have learned about it. It should be covered as a historical event without any politically motivated editorialising about how we need to reject nationalism and embrace multiculturalism to prevent it from happening again, or anything of that nature obviously.

[Grapple]

FWIW we covered the Holocaust in History (including a trip to a Synagogue where we were shown black and white footage of corpses being burnt) when I was at school, although .
Did you ask whose corpses were being burnt? And did they provide any proof to back up their answer?

[Geist]

I agree too. The Holocaust is a very important event, and I can't imagine teaching history without coming to it. Its significance is immense. Genocide on European soil...that needs to be covered.

[Winston]

The Holocaust should be taught as a warning against multiculturalism. It works better that way than as a tool of anti-Nationalism.

[ironweed]

"This is a matter of great concern to the Jewish community, which works towards social cohesion as a matter of principle," he said in a statement.


Until it comes time to talk about Armenians getting theirs. Then, well, the "social cohesion" "principle" means you need to shut up. Since there's only been one group that's ever been persecuted, after all.

[Julian Curtis Lee]

They never taught me in school about the Russian Holocaust. Or the Dresden Holocaust. Everything about the communists seemed to be covered up in high school. I seldom heard a really discouraging word about them.

Mr Coutts-Trotter used the word "germane." Ninety-percent change he's black. His hyphenated name means he's married to a whinym.

[Arrow Cross]

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee292/jackolack7/Bitches_Dont_Know.jpg

[Starr]

I agree too. The Holocaust is a very important event, and I can't imagine teaching history without coming to it. Its significance is immense. Genocide on European soil...that needs to be covered.


do you think it needs to be taught with the political spin being talked about here as the reason for the neccessity of it, social cohesion? Ahknaton's idea of the way in which it should be taught sounds reasonable and therefore it would certainly not be good enough. These people who are pushing for this are not concerned primarily with children learning about historical events, they are concerned with using the holocaust story to instruct kids to be good raceless, rootless multiculti worshipping citizens. The "social cohesion" line is proof of that. The last couple of paragraphs in the article mention that kids do learn about the holocaust so maybe what they are actually objecting to here is that there is not enough anti nationalist, pro multiculti spin to the way in which it is taught. They likely see that as just as "bad" as if it were not being taught at all.

[Grapple]

they are concerned with using the holocaust story to instruct kids to be good raceless, rootless multiculti worshipping citizens. .
And to teach the Goyim never to do anything that could be construed as “anti-Semitic” since that will lead to another holocaust.

[Jake Featherston]

While ideally, everyone should be well versed in the major historical events of the previous century, I'm still unclear just why the average future Australian laborer needs to know about the unfortunate events that befell Central and Eastern European Jewry 60-70 years ago. I mean, really, who gives a shit? The Holocaust is only the worst thing that ever happened if you're a Jew, and really, almost no one is. A few million people, about one in every 500. Its probably a little higher in New South Wales, admittedly.

[Ahknaton]

Did you ask whose corpses were being burnt? And did they provide any proof to back up their answer?
No. I was only about 14 years old, and was too shocked by the sight of burning corpses to play skeptical revisionist.

[Ahknaton]

While I agree that genocide should be talked about in schools in a Social Sciences class, why the Holocaust specifically? Why not the Darfur genocide, the American genocide of the Sioux and the Argentinian war against the indigenous peoples which resulted in their extinction in the area, the Cambodian killing feilds, the Bosnian ethnic cleansing, the Australian "Black War" against the Aborigines, the Chinese genocide of the Muslims and Buddists, the Turkish genocide of the Kurds and Armenians? or how about the Rwandan genocide? (just to name a few off the top of my head)
For a New Zealander the Holocaust is the only genocide out of all of those mentioned (besides those committed by the Turks during WWI - the Bosnian ethnic cleansing wasn't a genocide) where we were actually involved in the conflict that the genocide was a part of, so I think it is justifiable to focus on it.
You never hear about Cambodia yet it was one of the most bloody and vicious the world has ever known, yet we choose the Holocaust over all the examples I've just given. It seems odd to me that we would focus on only one, why is that?
I disagree. I remember hearing about Cambodia a fair bit, in movies ("The Killing Fields") popular culture ("Holidays in Cambodia") and at school. I've also been there personally, so maybe that exaggerates the importance that I perceive being placed on it.

[Geist]

do you think it needs to be taught with the political spin being talked about here as the reason for the neccessity of it, social cohesion? Ahknaton's idea of the way in which it should be taught sounds reasonable and therefore it would certainly not be good enough. These people who are pushing for this are not concerned primarily with children learning about historical events, they are concerned with using the holocaust story to instruct kids to be good raceless, rootless multiculti worshipping citizens. The "social cohesion" line is proof of that. The last couple of paragraphs in the article mention that kids do learn about the holocaust so maybe what they are actually objecting to here is that there is not enough anti nationalist, pro multiculti spin to the way in which it is taught. They likely see that as just as "bad" as if it were not being taught at all.

This is such a loaded question. I think an attempted genocide on European soil is worthy of inclusion in school yes.

[Felix the Cat]

How would the average Allied war veteran c. 1950 have reacted to the claim that he and his countrymen were also to blame for the Holocaust?

[Sliverfern]

Throughout my education in Australia and New Zealand which as spanned right through in to uni degrees, I was never taught about any Holocaust. Never did me any harm.

I really don't see a huge deal in rehashing it over every new generation.

[Starr]

Throughout my education in Australia and New Zealand which as spanned right through in to uni degrees, I was never taught about any Holocaust. Never did me any harm.

I really don't see a huge deal in rehashing it over every new generation.


You mean you are still able to live life without learning extensively about the holocaust in your younger years?

[Sliverfern]

You mean you are still able to live life without learning extensively about the holocaust in your younger years?
I was hard but I struggled through :dance2:

[shanemac]

I agree too. The Holocaust is a very important event, and I can't imagine teaching history without coming to it. Its significance is immense. Genocide on European soil...that needs to be covered.


Yes, absolutely. One of the greatest works of fiction in the whole of Literary culture.