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.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
