OLYMPIA, Wash. - The Washington State legislature is discussing a bill to introduce Holocaust education into Washington schools. Senate Bill 5851 would add lessons to the state curriculum.
(The Center Square) – Senate Bill 5851 to strengthen Holocaust education in Washington state public schools elicited emotional testimony from one lawmaker during Wednesday morning’s hearing before the Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee.
According to Washington Senator Jesse Salomon, in a survey given to millennials and Gen Xers, 63% of those surveyed didn't know how many Jewish people were murdered in the Holocaust. He said 80% of those want to learn more about the history.
Holocaust Day, marking the Nazis' murder of six million Jews, falls on the date the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp was liberated
Sen. Salomon said the proposed bill is timely because studies have shown that the hate and anti-Semitism in the state and around the country are on the rise.
"We need to change the way we're functioning with each other," Sen. Salomon said. "This history shows where it goes. I think that's pretty important."
According to Sen. Salomon, the curriculum would be mandatory under the proposed bill starting in the 2027 school year.
Tens of thousands of Germans turned out across the country on Saturday to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, just days after a string of protests against right-wing extremists.
Sen. Salomon told the committee his grandparents barely survived the Holocaust.
He said like World War Two veterans, there are also fewer Holocaust survivors.
Ingrid Steppic was born in Holland and spoke to the committee in favor of the bill. She said her father and sister helped hide 40 Jewish people, and most of them survived, but the Nazis arrested her father and sister.
She said her parents didn't need Holocaust education; they lived it.
"The only way we can learn is by being taught," she said. "Being taught in schools and passing this information to the next generation."
Sen. Salomon said most people favor the bill, but it is getting pushback. He said some people have questions about if it would include other acts of Genocide. Not just the Holocaust.
The UN's top court on Friday said Israel must prevent genocidal acts in its war with Hamas and allow aid into Gaza, but stopped short of calling for an end to the fighting.
Dr. Tracy Gastro-Gill, the director of Washington Ethnic Studies Now, addressed the committee virtually in opposition to the bill.
"The Holocaust is on genocide that happened in Europe to Europeans," Dr. Gastro-Gill said. "If anything should be called out, it should be the ongoing genocide of the indigenous people of America committed by the U.S. Government."
According to Salomon, the bill will address other examples of Genocide globally and said it's just focused on the Holocaust because there is more documentation on it.
Sen. John Braun is the other sponsor of the bill. He said the subject has been challenging. He and Sen. Salomon have been working on this for a few years.
Sen. Braun said this bill would build upon a previous bill that passed unanimously in 2019. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Holocaust Center for Humanity to build a curriculum not just focused on the Holocaust but Genocide globally.
"You'll notice the title of the bill isn't just Holocaust; it's Holocaust and Genocide," said Sen. Braun. "We have tragic events happening in our world today that, in my view, don't get the attention they deserve."
NonStop Local has reached out to multiple school districts in the area to hear their thought and has yet to hear back. If we do hear back, we'll make sure to update you.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.