By Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-33)
Just two days after the one-year anniversary of the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack against Israel, the state Senate Education Committee approved a bill I introduced that would require schools in Pennsylvania to teach students about the Holocaust.
The importance of this bill became apparent as we saw the overt demonstrations on college campuses across Pennsylvania after the horrific and cowardly attacks that occurred against the peaceful citizens of Israel last October.
As the years pass, things fade from our memories and the horrors of the past somehow seem less horrific. As the famous quote says, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Through what I can only attribute to ignorance brought on by a lack of education, students were swayed to fall for the “from the river to the sea” cry, not fully understanding the atrocities the Jewish people have suffered.
Acts of antisemitism rose at a rapid pace. Jewish students were afraid to walk the grass and sidewalks of their own colleges. The freedom that we all take for granted was now being snatched from them. School was no longer a safe space.
It is our responsibility to ensure through education that our children learn about what happened back in the late 1930s and early 1940s and can recognize it today when it rears its ugly head.
Ignorance is the fertilizer of fear and hate!
Knowledge is one of the simplest antidotes for ignorance.
The purveyors of prejudice and bigotry prey on uninformed people who have not studied history.
With this bill, I hope to help change that. Students will be taught, in an age-appropriate manner, that the Holocaust happened and more than six million people were herded up like animals and slaughtered, all because of their Jewish faith.
Through education and understanding, future generations will be taught to remember the Holocaust, so that they will indeed learn from history and never let it be repeated.
Sen. Doug Mastriano represents the 33rd Senatorial District covering Adams and Franklin counties. He serves as chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee. He is a combat veteran who served in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm and was deployed three times to Afghanistan.
Media contact: Don Beishl
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