Now It´s Time for Holocaust Education

The unfortunate incident where the Nazi salute was given to the Ulus Jewish High School students (UÖML) during a high school soccer game last week, showed us clearly that combat against racism, discrimination, and antisemitism in the education system of our country is not at the required level and that Holocaust education must be included in the curriculum as soon as possible.

An investigation by the Ministry of National Education (MEB)

After the incident during the soccer match between the Üsküdar American Academy (ÜAL) and Ulus Jewish High School (UÖML) was shared on social media, it received many different comments from various segments of the community. 

Taking place on the national media, an investigation being launched by the Ministry of National Education, this incident once again reminded us of the necessity of Holocaust education.

UÖMO: "We will be following"

Ulus Jewish Schools (UÖMO) administration, stating that they have a zero-tolerance policy for these kinds of actions, expressed that they would be following that the disciplinary process concerning the ones who had carried out this act is executed until the end.

Why should Holocaust be included in the educational curriculum?

In order to become a member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), established in 2000, there are certain conditions to be met. These are the organization of Holocaust Remembrance Day as a state ceremony, the opening of the archives of the period for studies, and the inclusion of the Holocaust in the official educational curriculum.

Turkey has been an observer member of the IHRA since 2008. In line with the conditions for full membership, commemoration ceremonies with the participation of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Representatives are being organized, NGOs are carrying out various projects on this subject, and academic meetings are being held in our country in recent years. In parallel with these developments, it is observed that the number of Turkish publications on the Holocaust has recently increased. However, Holocaust is not in the official educational curriculum yet.

Holocaust Education at the UÖMO

Ulus Jewish Schools Jewish Culture Education Coordinator Sami Levi, shared with us valuable information about the education given to their students on Holocaust and fighting racism and antisemitism:

"At Ulus Jewish Schools, we start our 'Antisemitism and Holocaust Education' with the 'Pyramid of Hate' created by the Anti Defamation League (ADL). We make our students realize that as they move from the bottom of this pyramid to the top, attitudes turn into rhetoric, rhetoric turns into actions, and hate speech becomes a crime. We show that the foundations of hate crime which progress up to Genocide, occur through rhetoric, behavior, and attitudes.

Pyramid of Hate

Then we talk about other kinds of discrimination. After we define discrimination acts such as Racism, Islamaphobia, Homophobia, Xenophobia, etc. we start to talk about antisemitism. We do case analyses on antisemitic occurrences and discuss how we can react when we face these kinds of events. We move from the subject of antisemitism through history to the Holocaust Using the Timeline of the Holocaust created by the United States Holocaust Museum (USHMM) and we examine Holocaust in detail, with its causes and consequences.

We examine the massacres and genocides that took place in various countries after World War II (Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia, Darfur, etc.) and analyze the similarities and differences with the Jewish Holocaust.

We, as people who believe that Holocaust education should be as wide as possible and included in the curriculum, are always ready to share our experience, knowledge, and resources with all schools that believe in the importance of this education and want to implement it."

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