Oregon lawmakers add Holocaust education to school curriculum
SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Oregon will require public schools to teach about the Holocaust under a measure sent to the governor.
Lawmakers unanimously voted Tuesday to add Holocaust instruction to the school curriculum starting in the 2019-2020 school year. Ten other states require some level of genocide education in schools.
A recent poll found that one in five American millennials surveyed were unfamiliar with the Holocaust.
Some say that those awareness gaps can have consequences. The Anti-Defamation League reports that anti-Semitic incidents at K-12 schools quadrupled from 2015 to 2017.
Rep. Janeen Sollman says the bill is in honor of Holocaust survivor Alter Wiener, who died last year after he was struck by a car.
Sollman says Wiener spoke publicly about his three years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps and hoped that “by sharing his painful story over and over, history would not repeat itself.”
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News release from Oregon House Democrats:
Legislation requiring Oregon’s school districts to teach students about the Holocaust and genocide unanimously passed the Oregon House of Representatives today.
Senate Bill 664 adds specific references to the Holocaust and genocide to recently updated social studies standards for high school students.
“As we lose our lived history from that era, it becomes even more important to have holocaust and genocide education in our classrooms. This bill is about keeping history alive,” said Rep. Janeen Sollman, a chief sponsor of the legislation. “This legislation is about ensuring that our students learn about our true history, learn to appreciate and understand our survivors’ stories, and continue to tell those stories to prevent such actions again.”
The Oregon Department of Education will provide technical assistance to school districts in implementing the curriculum. Oregon will join 10 other states that require some level of Holocaust and genocide education in classrooms.
The idea for the legislation was first brought forward by Claire Sarnowski, a 13-year-old Lake Oswego student at the encouragement of holocaust survivor Alter Wiener. Wiener died in a tragic accident late last year. He was honored by the Oregon Legislature with House Concurrent Resolution 17.
“Alter’s dream was to mandate education which would continue the legacy of the Holocaust and genocides,” Sarnowski said in public testimony. “Although he is not here with me today, he prepared me to carry on this mission and to persevere in making this a reality… We need to ensure these atrocities are never forgotten nor ignored.”
Sen. Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego), Sen. James Manning (D-Eugene) and Sen. Dallas Heard (R-Roseburg) all joined Rep. Sollman as chief sponsors. A bipartisan group of 38 House and Senate members signed on as sponsors.
The legislation now goes to Gov. Kate Brown.
