New Holocaust Curriculum in Israel To Begin in Kindergarten
Image by SHULAMIT SEIDLER-FELLER
Israel will teach the Holocaust in the country’s schools beginning in kindergarten under a planned curriculum released by the Education Ministry.
The curriculum, which appears on the ministry’s website, is titled Bishvili HaZikaron, or Memory Is For Me. It was released several days before the start of Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Experts from the Education Ministry and the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem designed the program. The curriculum committee included Holocaust experts, educators, psychologists and educational consultants.
The kindergarten curriculum is meant to help the children absorb the information to which they are exposed during the day, including the two-minute siren, public memorial services and television broadcasts, while preserving their sense of security.
“The education system is working to educate children starting from a young age about the legacy of the nation, its history and culture, and about her holidays and memorial days, as an integral part of the educational experience,” the ministry explained.
The curriculum advises kindergarten teachers to avoid photos taken during the Holocaust and asks that they talk to parents about how to discuss the Holocaust with their children.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
