Page 11 - Jewish News_September-2020

FEDERATION NEWS September 2020 11

Teaching teachers

about the Holocaust

By Gayle Guynup
hat grew out of a one-year it’s a patchwork quilt of misinforma-
celebration marking the 75 tion and misunderstanding,” Zaret said.
th
Wanniversary of the end of Florida is one of the states that
World War II and the liberation of Nazi mandates Holocaust education. How-
concentration camps, has grown into ever, as in many states and countries
an ongoing movement in support of around the world, without a consis-
educating people about the Holocaust tent and comprehensive curriculum,
and its impact, both then and now. teachers in Florida are sometimes self-
The Butterflies of Hope and Re- taught. Sarasota and Manatee school
membrance project and its Holocaust systems are actively pursuing ways to
Education Initiative is part of the Hell- enhance teachers’ knowledge, under-
er Community Relations Committee standing and experiential development
(CRC) and is sponsored by The Jew- related to the Holocaust.
ish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee. Though the Coronavirus interrupt-
It is also the passion of Bette Zaret, ed some of the Butterflies of Hope and
who founded Butterflies for Hope and Remembrance planned activities, what
Remembrance, and today serves as a remains intact is its goal of elevating
member of the Heller CRC, in charge the awareness of the Holocaust and its
of its Holocaust subcommittee. lessons, and encouraging our commu-
“Part of the mission of the Heller nity to stand up and resist all expres-
CRC is to educate and advocate for sions of discrimination, persecution
peace and security for Israel through and hatred, helping to make our world
education, information and community a kinder, better place, now and for gen-
erations to come.
“Though originally Butterflies of
Hope and Remembrance was planned
as a one-year commemoration, my
hope was to have it evolve and expand
into something longer-term. I am for-
ever grateful to The Jewish Federation
of Sarasota-Manatee and Jessi Sheslow
for embracing our program as part of its
overall Holocaust Education Initiative,
working in partnership with our area
school systems to help provide content
and programming for its teacher train-
ing,” Zaret said. “It is such an extraor-
dinary initiative. It can be a model for
other communities and eventually be-
come a national movement, as well,”
she added.
“As of right now, we don’t know
whether these courses will be required
Bette Zaret or voluntary,” Zaret explained, adding,
action,” said Director of Community “I hope it will be required.” The Sara-
JEWISH
Relations Jessi Sheslow. “This pro- sota and Manatee counties’ school sys-
gram fits incredibly well with our mis- tems have embraced the program, and
sion, and I’m so proud of the work we the Sarasota schools are offering cred-
do with teachers in Sarasota and Man- its to teachers who participate. J E WIS H
atee counties to fight anti-Semitism in Providing this fact-based Holo-
our own community and beyond.” caust education curricula for teach-
“The Holocaust was an unprec- ers, Zaret said, will prompt students to
edented event in human history,” Bette recognize the actions by perpetrators
ON CAMPUS
Zaret said. “Holocaust survivors like
Elie Wiesel have charged us to never O N C A M PUS
forget, not only to honor the memory
of the victims, but also to ensure that
this kind of genocide is never re-
peated.” WHAT PARENTS NEED TO KNOW
Sadly, she said, in spite of the fact
that it is one of the most amply docu-
mented events in history, in many ways Have teenagers heading to college
the Holocaust is still unknown to large in the coming years?
segments of the population. A study
by the Conference on Jewish Material Hear what it may be like
Claims Against Germany reported that to be Jewish on campus
41% of Americans and 66% of millen- from a national leader
nials say that they don’t know about in Israel Advocacy,
the Auschwitz death camp. And 22% Stephanie Hausner,
of those millennials say they have nev- Interim Director
er heard of the Holocaust.
Zaret notes that when you pair that of the Israel Action Network.
with the fact that anti-Semitism is on
the rise in our country – even in our Wednesday,
own community – and the fact that and inactions by bystanders that can September 9
there are fewer and fewer survivors lead to genocide, in turn leading them
still alive to give firsthand accounts of to reflect on their own role in prevent- at 7:00 pm
what happened, the need for a struc- ing human rights violations that could (via Zoom)
tured approach to educating both the explode into the types of atrocities that
teachers and their students about the have not been seen since World War II Register for this FREE event at
Holocaust has never been greater. and the Holocaust, such as in Rwanda, JFEDSRQ.org/Events
The Jewish Federation of Sara- Bosnia, Cambodia, Sudan, Darfur and
sota-Manatee, through its Holocaust so many others.
Education Initiative, is committed to Zaret noted that we must be dili-
not only shining a light on the need for gent about teaching facts so that young
Holocaust education, but to providing people can discern between facts and
the tools necessary to create a compre- popular culture and fiction. “We must
hensive program for both teachers and make sure that students understand
students. what happened, and what could happen
Currently in America, only 13 again,” Zaret said. “While it is a les-
states mandate Holocaust education as son based on the past, at its heart it is
part of the curriculum, and only three a lesson about civil liberties and social
states have a curriculum on how to justice, and our future,” she said.
teach it. “We are so lacking in a na- For more information on the Hell- For more information, contact Jessi Sheslow at
tional initiative for a consistent way to er CRC, contact Jessi Sheslow at jshes jsheslow@jfedsrq.org or 941.343.2109.
teach about the Holocaust. Right now, low@jfedsrq.org or 941.343.2109.

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