14 | AUGUST 26 • 2021
W
hen the state of Michigan
passed a mandate in 2016
that required students
to receive education about geno-
cide, including but not limited to the
Holocaust and Armenian genocide,
Holocaust studies were significantly
impacted for thousands of educators and
students alike.
“
All school districts have to make
choices about what they teach,” says
Ruth Bergman, the Holocaust Memorial
Center’s director of education. “The
mandate was really created to ensure
that all students could have appropriate
Holocaust and genocide education.”
The passing of the mandate, Bergman
says, helped ensure this crucial learning
“wouldn’t fall through the cracks.”
Now, Michigan’s genocide education
mandate requires six hours of Holocaust
education for students in eighth through
12th grades. “It adds an incentive for
teachers to spend the right amount of
time on this subject,” Bergman says.
For many Jewish students, especially
those who may be grandchildren or
great-grandchildren of Holocaust survi-
vors, the subject hits close to home. To
ensure that both teachers and students
can adequately navigate this difficult and
highly emotional topic, crucial resources
like the Holocaust Memorial Center step
in to guide schools.
OUR COMMUNITY
HMC has transformed the way Michigan
students learn about the Holocaust.
Mandate
Educate
A
to
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
COURTESY OF HMC
Students from Ann
Arbor Christian
School tour HMC.
Ruth
Bergman