iWhen my local school district recognized International Holocaust Remembrance Day last year, I imagined meaningful classroom activities would follow. But my daughters came home from middle school without any mention of it.
This year, I looked closer. The district’s acknowledgment amounted to a proclamation at a board meeting, vaguely encouraging “tolerance, empathy and compassion.” Nowhere did it mention actually educating students about the Holocaust.
As a Jewish mother in California, I have realized that even this token recognition is more than what many schools provide. Statewide, Holocaust education remains inconsistent, insufficient and often left to individual teachers. A recent state-commissioned study confirms that California is failing to properly teach the Holocaust.
The consequences threaten not only Jewish students but the moral and civic education of all young Californians. With rising antisemitism, it is deeply alarming that students are not consistently receiving a comprehensive Holocaust education.
As is, some students receive a full unit on the Holocaust, while others, like my daughters in the Conejo Valley Unified School District, encounter the Holocaust as a brief mention in history class. This fragmented approach creates an incomplete understanding of the Holocaust and the dangers of unfettered discrimination and hate.
The consequences of this educational gap are shaping our higher education. The federal government’s scrutiny of antisemitism at universities, including UC Berkeley, should serve as a wake-up call. If students reach college without a strong grounding in Holocaust history and the impact of antisemitism, we cannot be surprised when they fail to recognize antisemitic rhetoric or fall prey to revisionist narratives that distort historical facts.
A 2020 survey by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany bore this out: it found that 11% of young Americans believe Jews caused the Holocaust, and 63% did not know that 6 million Jews were murdered.
California prides itself on being a leader in education and social justice, yet our approach to Holocaust education contradicts that image. Holocaust education is not just about preserving memory; it is about teaching moral courage, the consequences of hate, and the importance of standing up for others. If California, home to one of the largest Jewish populations in the country, cannot get this right, what message does that send to other states?
More than ever, our state should make standardized Holocaust education mandatory in K-12 schools. We must ensure educators are properly trained with appropriate resources and professional development to teach this complex history. An effective curriculum should incorporate survivor testimonies, Holocaust museum visits, and interactive tools to engage students. Finally, it’s critical the curriculum includes digital literacy, so students recognize the widespread Holocaust misinformation, denial and revisionism being promulgated online.
Education is among the most powerful tools to prevent history from repeating. Germany, a country that reckoned deeply with its past, mandates Holocaust education. California can too, ensuring that Holocaust history is taught comprehensively with clear guidelines, educator support, and accountability measures. Schools must be given the resources to make this history resonate with students, not just as a chapter in a textbook but as a living, urgent lesson about where hatred can lead. Time is of the essence. California must take decisive action so that every student learns this history, and learns it well.
A resident of greater Los Angeles, Aya Shechter is the chief programming officer of the Israeli-American Council.