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