Ontario government broadens Holocaust education amid rising antisemitism

It’s a move applauded by community groups in light of Holocaust denial and minimization over the last number of years.

Thestar.com
Nov. 10, 2022
Kelly Skjerven

The Ontario government is strengthening Holocaust education within its schools, including mandatory learning for the first time in elementary schools in an effort to counter rising incidents of antisemitism.

It’s a move applauded by community groups in light of Holocaust denial and minimization over the last number of years.

According to a provincial release, the Toronto District School Board has seen more than 50 incidents involving antisemitic hate symbols during the 2021-22 school year.

A 2021 study conducted by Western University and Liberation75 -- a group that works with school boards to deliver programming about the Holocaust -- found that 42 per cent of students surveyed said they have “unequivocally witnessed an antisemitic event.”

The same study found that one in three students think the Holocaust was fabricated, exaggerated or they are unsure if it actually happened.

Marilyn Sinclair of Liberation75 said she’s never seen so many antisemitic incidents.

“I’m the child of Holocaust survivors and while there’s always been antisemitism in society, and no amount of education is going to eliminate all the antisemitism -- we never saw this.”

“I have never seen swastikas on walls in my entire life and now every single week, there’s another one on a school. The timing is right to announce this curriculum right now.”

Education minister Stephen Lecce said “those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

“With antisemitism on the rise, we are introducing mandatory Holocaust education in elementary schools, expanding resources and strengthening anti-hate training for Ontario students, educators, and families.”

To counter antisemitism incidents, the province will implement the first mandatory learning requirement on Holocaust education in the curriculum for Grade 6 students. This revised curriculum will be put in place next September.

Currently, mandatory learning about the Holocaust and other acts of genocide are included in the Grade 10 Canadian History Since World War I course.

The Education Ministry will also be working with the Ontario College of Teachers in an effort to develop professional learning ,for teachers to further educate students on the Holocaust.

The province is also partnering with community organizations to help students learn about historical and present-day discrimination as well as how to identify and address hate.

According to recent Statistics Canada data, Jewish Canadians continue to be the most targeted religious minority for hate crimes in the country. While they only make up one per cent of the population, Jewish Canadians were victims of 14 per cent of all reported hate crimes in 2021.

In 2021, Statistics Canada also found that hate crimes targeting the Jewish religion reported to police were up 47 per cent.

Sinclair said children are seeing hate on social media, gaming platforms and chat rooms.

According to the study by Western University and Liberation75, 40 per cent of students were learning about the Holocaust from social media.

“I don’t believe that the kids who are doing these things are bad kids. I don’t believe they’re taught at the dinner table to behave like neonazis,” Sinclair said.

Sinclair said by introducing Holocaust education earlier in the curriculum, it ensures students are getting their information from their trusted teachers, and not social media.

Sinclair said a conversation with survivor Nate Leipciger also made her realize having Holocaust education in the curriculum validates that it was real.

“It tells the Holocaust deniers, you’re wrong and we can prove it. It’s in the curriculum.”