It was three years ago I went to Krakow, Poland. I went there because there was a treasure from World War II that still stands erect to this day: Auschwitz. I didn't go to take selfies and peace signs like some of the American tourists that were there. I walked in silence and in shock at the type of camp that it would have been 70 years ago. I walked inside a crematorium and my clothes reeked of burnt flesh. I can't even eat cream of mushroom soup to this day because of Auschwitz. But the reason why I want to talk about the Holocaust is because no one in their right mind wants to talk about the Holocaust in school anymore.
They think we're all over it, but technically it's still present and is seen in certain prejudices.
Non-importance
While I may be several years removed from public school, I still had to learn about the Holocaust. It did not matter if I was in world history, American history, or English, I had to sit down and watch a movie documenting WW II or read a book alongside a cassette tape that was written by a Holocaust survivor. But the problem now is that schools do not wish to teach the Holocaust because they don't want to offend people that are Muslim.
Give me a break - because the Holocaust was an important part of WW II. 6 million people died because of one religion, but there were also Gypsies, Catholic Christians, and homosexuals that were killed for their lifestyle as well.
Adolf Hitler wanted to make a pure German race, but the homosexuals and Catholics that he also killed were part of his own German people.
There are laws mandating the rights to teaching the holocaust in schools, including in the state of Florida. Anyone caught in violation of not teaching the importance of the Holocaust would be fined or have their teaching license suspended.
I don't think Springboard knows anything about that as they are part of almost every curriculum known to education.
Compassion
For most people who had to learn about the Holocaust, they were also taught compassion and a moral that history will repeat itself if the Holocaust is not taught in school. Compassion in Buddhist teachings is the seed of enlightenment.
We all have it, but for us, the word means helping those in distress or in pain and suffering, such as laws passed for the right to die in states out West. Our compassion should be that we teach the Holocaust to our children in hopes of a brighter future, one that is not dismal and gloomy on the horizon. Our seed of enlightenment this holocaust remembrance day is a hope that we may never have to live with the fear of war or mass extinction again.
