From Deseret News archives:

Utahns determined to teach about Holocaust

Litvack says some students not aware that it occurred

Published: Monday, April 24, 2006 9:55 p.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
Pat Drussel sees Holocaust awareness as a critical part of her language arts curriculum at Dixon Middle School in Provo.

She hopes her students get the message when she tells them, "You have to learn acceptance and tolerance. ..."

"It doesn't matter what color people are or what religion they are," Drussel said. "We are just people."

Today marks national Holocaust Remembrance Day. Utah's official remembrance ceremony will be held on Friday.

On Monday, about 50 Utah Armenians protested outside the federal building in Salt Lake City seeking recognition of another genocide. Monday was the 90th anniversary of the start of an Ottoman Empire genocide that killed more than a million people. It has yet to be acknowledged as a genocide by the either the United States or Turkey.

"It definitely hurts to be forgotten," said Yelena Ayrapetova of Salt Lake.

Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake, said there are students in Utah's schools who aren't aware of the Holocaust or other genocides.

"It is definitely a problem, in my perspective, that we have a population growing up that doesn't know about the Holocaust," Litvack said. "It's important that we are aware, that we are raising educated citizens who are aware of what has happened."

Story continues below
While Utah has no explicit requirement to raise awareness of the Holocaust or other genocides, the state Office of Education encourages teachers to incorporate the lessons learned from the Nazi systematic extermination of 6 million Jews, along with other targeted groups.

Drussel is one of a handful of teachers nationwide finishing up a yearlong educator fellowship with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. As part of that fellowship, she recently held a training for about 55 teachers.

Peter Fredlake, coordinator of the Memorial Museum's teacher fellowship program, said up to 15 teachers a year are selected to participate in the fellowship. So far, 210 teachers have participated since its inception, including three from Utah.

"People who apply for this program are the cream of the crop," Fredlake said. "They are dedicated and know what it means to work hard. They're not going to stop teaching at the end of the year."

Fredlake said Utah is one of 24 states that don't explicitly mention Holocaust awareness as part of the curriculum. However, he said it is implicit in other areas, such as a mention of national socialists. Only seven states require Holocaust awareness training, he said.

It's critical for any education program to include context, Fredlake said.

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

Image

Members of the Armenian community protest outside the federal building in Salt Lake City Monday, seeking recognition of another genocide \— the slaughter of more than a million Armenians in 1915.

previousnext

Latest comments

It's official Coach needs a tuna fish sandwich and a road map and someone to...

Flyers get QB back for semifinal tilt

Were you watching the same game that the rest of us were? Sharp was ready to...

Letters: Growing jobless rate

Yes Unemployment officially only hit 7.8% under Carter with Inflation of...

Jazz win in N.Y. for 1st time since '04

Once again the Jazz prove they are unable to put together a solid 48 minutes...

I like to listen to a guy who is "...on loan from God...". I like to...

Lobo suspended

Compare to the Florida Football "eye-gouging" incident where the player just...

This is why BYU will be always be in contention for a MWC championship and...

4A football: Dixie loses QB, wins

My comments should say alot about me I don't go shooting my mouth off about...

Former DPS head pleads guilty

Ask any defense attorney or judge. Any first time offender who turns himself...

Am. Fork band to nationals?

I agree these are dedicated students, but $1,000.00+ each?? Just for one...

Advertisements
Advertisement