IN Thoughts

A MONTHLY MIX OF IDEAS

President Sarkozy's Idea

East Lansing

A

s substantial educational
research indicates, an effective
way to teach history to kids is
to use stories of other kids in history who
were the same age.
This strategy is well known in many
American schools. For example, Russell
Freedman's Children of the Great
Depression, aimed at grades 4-8, draws
on such connections felt by kids to teach
about the travails of the Great Depression.
The strategy is also a cornerstone in
teaching children about cosmopolitan
identifications. Hence, UNICEF embraces
it in endorsing the prize-winning book by
Anabel and Barnaby Kindersley, Children
Just Like Me.
Children are introduced to other chil-
dren around the world and learn about
their families, foods and games. The book
shows how children and people every-
where have the same thoughts, and similar
fun, though they live in vastly different
conditions.
In teaching about the Holocaust in
France, there exists a remarkable data-
base painstakingly created by Serge and
Beate Klarsfeld, French Children and the
Holocaust: A Memorial. This book indi-
vidually identifies some 11,000 Jewish
children deported by French authorities
during the Holocaust, with stunning pho-
tographs and short biographies. Many
readers say it is the most moving and pow-
erful book they have ever encountered.

It is probably with this resource in mind
that President Nicholas Sarkozy recently
proposed that French children, about age
10, or fifth-graders for whom there already
exists a Holocaust curriculum
in the schools, confront the his-
tory of the Holocaust in France
by reading and "adopting" the
story of another child the same
age who shared similar interests
and hopes but, as a Jew, became
a victim. "Nothing is more mov-
ing for a child than the story of
a child his own age, who had the
same games, the same joys and
the same hopes .."
No sooner did Sarkozy
announce the idea, however, than the reac-
tion was explosive. Child psychiatrists and
pediatricians opposed the idea of young
children being made to carry "this kind of
burden." A philosopher decried "the tyr-
anny of repentance" and worried about the
already existing over-attention to Jewish
suffering in places like the Parisian Muslim
suburbs.
Leading unionists worried about "foist-
ing on 10-year-olds an emotional charge
that is way beyond them!' Even respected
former Health Minister and Auschwitz sur-
vivor Simone Veil, who heard Sarkozy first-
hand at a dinner of French Jewish leaders,
called it "unimaginable, unbearable... and
above all, unfair" that "the weight of mem-
ory" would be placed on 10-year-olds.
Only Serge Klarsfeld found merit in
the idea, calling it "an act of vigilance" by

France and a culminating outcome of his
work, and stating that he understood it
as "a good way to talk (to kids) about the
tragedy"
There seems considerable
merit in Sarkozy's idea, given
that such a curriculum focused
on children is not inherently
problematic and that there is
already a commitment in
France to teach about "the
extermination of the Jews by
the Nazis" to pupils 10-11 years
old. And yet, there were and are
many things wrong with the
proposal and the way the presi-
dent put it forward.
First, to teach and learn about history,
even of the Holocaust, is different than and
ought not to be confused with memorial-
ization of the tragedy and identification
with the victims. Someone like Sarkozy
who uses all these terms loosely, even
interchangeably, to refer broadly to teach-
ing about the past, makes study of the past
a more difficult experience for youngsters
than it need be.
Students can be helped to understand
the tragic history of France in the 1940s,
the basic unfairness of what happened to
these Jewish innocents, without "identify-
ing" (as distinct from empathizing) with
the victims.
Second, the president appears not to
have consulted with educators, teachers,
psychologists, historians and other profes-
sionals about the idea, its connections with

the established Holocaust curriculum or its
links with other initiatives for multicultur-
al understanding or peace in the schools.
Nor seemingly did he explore fully the
likely impact of this on youngsters. Simply
put, this idea demands such consultation.
In stating his idea without sufficient pro-
fessional input, he advanced and under-
mined it at the same time.
Finally, President Sarkozy, now acting as
France's leading educator, failed to speak
about what the goal of such an approach
would be — beyond "knowledge" and
"memory." Would it be recognizing the
common value of all children who are citi-
zens of the French community? Would it be
recognizing all children as sharing a com-
mon humanity?
How would it fit with other initiatives
in the schools to build a stronger French
community and help educate citizens for
a global world? Thinking all this through
would have made for a more viable pro-
posal.
But the idea is worthy of further explo-
ration. The Holocaust was a broad moral
juncture in modern history and helping
young students comprehend it in creative
ways is needed in helping to create a new
France and a new Europe. ❑

Kenneth Waltzer is professor and director of

Jewish studies at Michigan State University. He

is currently writing a book on children liberated
in 1945 from Nazi Germany's Buchenwald con-

centration camp. E-mail waltzer@msu.edu .

Press China On Sudan

Newton, Mass. /JTA

S

teven Spielberg announced recent-
ly that he had resigned as the
artistic director of the 2008 Beijing
Olympic Games,
writing in a public
statement, "I find
that my conscience
will not allow me to
continue with busi-
ness as usual:'
Later, the
Hollywood mo
would add, At this
point, my time
and energy must
be spent not on
Olympic ceremonies,
but on doing all I can to help bring an end
to the unspeakable crimes against human-

A36

March 27 • 2008

Ai

ity that continue to be committed in Darfur.
Sudan's government bears the bulk of the
responsibility for these ongoing crimes but
the international community, particularly
China, should be doing more to end the
continuing human suffering there'
Spielberg joined two other groups of
prominent figures that issued public state-
ments last month condemning the Chinese
government for its support of Sudan.
On Feb. 12, 120 members of the U.S.
House of Representatives called on
President Hu Jintao of China to use his
influence with Khartoum to help advance
peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts in
Darfur. In a separate letter to the Chinese
president, a coalition of Nobel Peace Prize
laureates, Olympic athletes, celebrities and
other notables criticized Beijing for its
defense of Sudan in the United Nations and
for continuing to engage in a vigorous trade

relationship — oil being the key commod-
against the Sudanese government.
ity — with President Omar al-Bashir and
While China did support a Security
his despotic regime.
Council resolution last year calling for
In the past five years,
the deployment
. . . one hopes that
the Sudanese govern-
of a hybrid United
ment and its proxy
Nations-African
Union
Chinese leaders will
militia, the Janjaweed,
peacekeeping force to
recognize the absurdity
have slaughtered hun-
Darfur, the Asian giant
dreds of thousands
sought to weaken that
of welcoming athletes
of innocent people
resolution before it
from around the globe for was passed. China also
and displaced mil-
lions more. Despite
doubled its trade with
a sporting competition
these atrocities, China
Sudan in 2007 and
based on the principles
continues to serve as
continues to supply
Sudan's most signifi-
of good will and fair play Khartoum with weap-
cant political, military
ons used to torture,
while aiding and abetting rape and kill innocent
and economic ally,
repeatedly using its
a genocidal government Darfuris.
veto power as a perma-
As Beijing prepares
nent member of the U.N. Security Council
to prevent the passage of strong measures
Host on page A37