Teaching Children About Children in the Holocaust or Why Am I Confused About Holocaust Education in the Public Schools?

108 SHOFAR Teaching Children About Children in the Holocaust or Why Am I Confused About Holocaust Education in the Public Schools? David A. Frolick Political Science Department North Central College Over the years I have faced the challenge of trying to teach about the Holocaust to a variety of groups, both Jewish and non-Jewish-ehildren,. teenagers, college students, and adults. I believed that teaching children about the Holocaust was always the toughest and touchiest pedagogical challenge for the instructor. One has to be concerned about learning materials , approach, trauma, how much the children know or don't know, and what it is that the children retain. That challenge, I believe, has now been magnified. On January 1, 1990, the following act was added to The Illinois School Code: Sec. 27-20-3. Holocaust Study. Every public elementary school and high school shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of the Nazi atrocities of 1933 to 1945. This period in world history is known as the Holocaust, during which 6,000,000 Jews and millions of non-Jews were exterminated. The studying of this material is a reaffirmation of the commitment of free peoples from all natons to never again permit the occurrence of another Holocaust. The State Superintendent of Education may prepare and make available to all school boards instructional materials which may be used as guidelines for development of a unit of instruction under this Section; provided, however, that each school board shall itself determine the minimum amount of instruction time which shall qualify as a unit of instruction satisfying the requirements ofthis Section. (Emphasis mine) At the time of its enactment, the supporters hailed this act as a major achievement. Survivors, as well as those committed to the "telling of the story," believed that the law was their legacy "never to forget," and that the Holocaust would enter into the lives of the learners. Shortly after the law's enactment, I called the office of a state legislator to ask for a copy of the law. The person to whom I spoke said something to the effect of, Oh, my God! Did they (the state legislators) do that? Now every group will want to have something included about them in the curriculum. After all, we are already losing a day for Pulaski Day. Volume 10, No.2 Winter 1992 109 I just listened, but wondered how representative of public opinion this might be. Perhaps the person was clairvoyant-realizing now that revisionism would rear its ugly head in the case of the Winnetka family who challenged the new law. They did not want their child to be forced to learn a portion of history about which they said there was doubt. Furthermore, those of us who supported this law probably failed to realize the challenge which lay ahead of us. Who was going to supervise what was being taught? How much time would be spent? Would the materials be put into some historical context? In fact, what materials would be used?1 Little did we know the formidable task that lay ahead. Illinois is a big state, and soon more and more demands were being made on survivors and other Holocaust "experts." As one survivor has told me several times, I have been asked to come to talk in towns that I never knew existed. In fact, many of those people, especially the children, know little about Jews, let alone having ever seen one. So, what has happened to me as I was working on this subject was that in my search through the pedagogical materials I discovered that the issue really wasn't teaching children about children, but that disagreement continues about how and what to teach to children about the Holocaust period. Susan E. Cernyak-Spatz in her paper "To Teach a Captive AUdience," presented at the Remembering for the Future Conference, said: In a dual role as survivor and educator, I speak frequently to the public on the Holocaust. Public lectures are by invitation from groups that express interest in the topic beforehand, the already converted.... Only when I lecture in high schools or colleges do I reach an...