News

Friday, May 2, 2008

State Superintendent Jack O’Connell Encourages Schools to Honor Holocaust Remembrance Day

Following is a May 1, 2008, news release from the California Department of Education, Communications Division

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell asked teachers, students, and education administrators to honor Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day on May 2, 2008.

“Kristallnacht, or the ‘Night of Broken Glass’ on November 9, 1938 will live on in infamy as the start of a nightmare for all of humanity that resulted in the eventual murder of six million European Jews in the Holocaust,” said O’Connell. “Now 70 years later, some still have not learned the lessons of genocide as evidenced by the tragedies in Rwanda and Darfur. That’s why it is even more important than ever that we teach our students about the shameful moments of world history like the Holocaust lest we repeat our mistakes.”

O’Connell is recommending teachers, schools, and districts incorporate events on May 2 into their curriculum that acknowledge Holocaust Remembrance Day. Teachers and students may find educational resources to develop lessons and activities for remembering the event from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Web site at www.ushmm.org . The California Department of Education also has a Model Curriculum on Human Rights and Genocide at www.cde.ca.gov/re/pn/fd/ .