LEGISLATION

Legislation mandating genocide education:
FUNDED MANDATE

Bill number: A-2780 and S-2006
Title: An Act Mandating Holocaust Education In Schools
Date: Adopted March 10, 1994
Sponsored by: Senators Ewing, McGreevey, and Sinagra
Legislation:
BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey: 1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. New Jersey has recently become the focal point of national attention for the most venomous and vile of ethnic hate speeches.
b. There is an inescapable link between violence and vandalism and ethnic and racial intolerance. The New Jersey Department of Education itself has formally recognized the existence of the magnitude of this problem in New Jersey schools by the formation of a Commissioner’s Task Force on Violence and Vandalism.
c. New Jersey is proud of its enormous cultural diversity. The teaching of tolerance must be made a priority if that cultural diversity is to remain one of the State’s strengths.
d. National studies indicate that fewer than 25% of students have an understanding of organized attempts throughout history to eliminate various ethnic groups through a systematic program of mass killing or genocide.
e. The New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, created pursuant to P.L.1991.c.193 (C.18A:4A-1 et seq.), several years ago expanded its mission to study and recommend curricular material on a wide range of genocides. The Holocaust Commission is an ideal agency to recommend curricular materials to local districts.
2. a. Every board of education shall include instruction on the Holocaust and genocides in an appropriate place in the curriculum of all elementary and secondary school pupils.
b. The instruction shall enable pupils to identify and analyze applicable theories concerning human nature and behavior: to understand that genocide is a consequence of prejudice and discrimination: and to understand that issues of moral dilemma and conscience have a profound impact on life. The instruction shall further emphasize the personal responsibility that each citizen bears to fight racism and hatred whenever and wherever it happens.
3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to curriculum offerings in the 1994-95 school year.

Contact: Dr. Paul B. Winkler, Executive Director
State of New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education
P.O. Box 500
Trenton, NJ 08625
Phone: 609.292.9274
E-mail: holocaus@doe.state.nj.us

Legislation establishing a commission:

Bill: L. 1991, c.193, s.1. (C.18A:4A-2).
Title: New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education
Date: 1991
Legislation:
The New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education is created and established in the Executive Branch of the State Government…

FULL TEXT
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ACADEMIC STANDARDS

New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards- Social Studies (2004):

Grade 8:
6.2.8 E. International Education: Global Challenges, Cultures, and Connection
13. Analyze how prejudice and discrimination may lead to genocide as well as other acts of hatred and violence for the purposes of subjugation and exploitation.

Grade 12:
6.2.12 E. International Education: Global Challenges, Cultures, and Connections
15. Compare and contrast current and past genocidal acts and other acts of hatred and violence for the purposes of subjugation and exploitation (e.g., Holocaust, Native Americans, Irish famine, Armenia, Ukrainian collectivization, Cambodia, Rwanda) and discuss present and future actions by individuals and governments to prevent the reoccurrence of such events.

6.3.12 F. The Era of the Great Wars (1914-1945)
2. Analyze the background causes and global consequences of actions leading to World War II, including:
- The fall of the democratic Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazism and European anti-Semitism resulting in the Holocaust and its impact on Jewish life and culture and European society;
- Other twentieth century genocides, (e.g., Turkey/Armenia, Soviet forced collectivization in the Ukraine, Japan’s occupations in China and Korea)

These standards are mandatory in New Jersey.
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STATE RESOURCES

State of New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education
P.O. Box 500
Trenton, NJ 08625
Phone: 609.292.9274
Contact: Dr. Paul Winkler, Executive Director
E-mail: holocaus@doe.state.nj.us
URL: http://www.state.nj.us/njded/holocaust/index.html

The New Jersey Holocaust Commission is an autonomous body operating under its own policies and positions. It acts as a resource to the Department of Education to assist schools with various aspects of meeting the requirements of the mandate to provide Holocaust and genocide education. The commission provides curriculum outlines and suggested activities; identifies and publicizes demonstration sites for other districts to contact; and recommends informational resources and materials for teachers and students to use in the state.

Center for Holocaust Studies at Brookdale Community College
765 Newman Springs Road
Lincroft, NJ, 07738
Phone: 732.224.2769
Contact: Ms. Jane Denny, Director of Education
E-mail: jrdenny@comcast.net

Mission: Education about historical issues of the Holocaust and genocide; elimination of racism, anti-Semitism and all forms of prejudice that damage our society; and development of creative programs and activities regarding these crucial human issues.

The Mercer County Holocaust/Genocide Resource Center
1200 Old Trenton Road
West Windsor, NJ 08550
E-mail: holocaustctr@mccc.edu

The Center is designed to provide Support to educators, local organizations and the community at large in Mercer County in order to better teach and understand the concepts and lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides. The Mercer County Holocaust/Genocide Resource Center is located at Mercer County Community College in the Library of the West Windsor, NJ campus.

The Herbert and Leonard Littman Families Holocaust Resource Center
The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life- Rutgers University
12 College Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Phone:732.932.2033
E-mail: csjl@rci.rutgers.edu
URL: http://jewishstudies.rutgers.edu/hrc/

The Holocaust Resource Center is at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. The mission is to teach future generations about the Holocaust by training educators, and providing instructional materials to teachers, students and scholars; enhance public awareness about the Holocaust, racism and genocide through seminars, lectures and exhibits; heighten sensitivity and awareness of discrimination by encouraging discussions about differences, tolerance and prejudice; and provide information and referrals for individuals, schools and community groups to speakers, programs, educational materials and special events.

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

New Jersey Department of Education
PO Box 500
Trenton, NJ 08625-0500
URL: http://www.nj.gov/education/