Guatemala Makes Push To Teach The Holocaust

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — The Guatemalan government partnered with the local Jewish community to launch an educational project to study the Holocaust.
Another aim of the project is to promote the values of tolerance and respect, reported La Hora newspaper on Tuesday.
“Studying the Holocaust allows young people to see the tragic consequences of currents and movements. It also allows strengthening the values of tolerance and respect,” said Yehudi Sabbagh, president of the Comunidad Judia de Guatemala, the country’s umbrella Jewish organization.
Several Jewish and governmental officials attended the project’s inauguration event, including Education Minister Oscar Hugo Lopez and the Israeli ambassador to Guatemala, Moshe Bachar.
“The platform presents the real suffering that the Holocaust caused to the Jewish people, an important reference for Guatemalans not to let it be repeated,” Lopez said.
The initiative led by Ministry of Education and the local Jewish community intends to promote the values of tolerance and respect and to provide teachers with both content and tools for their didactic practice
Guatemala is home to about 1,000 Jews out of a population of 15 million.
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