How Holocaust Education Has Failed
We missed the mark when it comes to Holocaust education.
As it turns out it was always wrong.
It was built on a premise, that if humanity would remember what happened, if they viewed enough evidence and first-hand testimony, people would learn that hate can be lead to social catastrophe and this would never happen again.
But history teaches the exact opposite.
The Holocaust was not the first time Jews were persecuted, expelled, massacred, or abandoned by the society. There were the Crusaders, The Black Death persecutions, and the Spanish Inquisition.
And it was never going to be the last. October 7 laid this fallacy to rest once and for all.
Jews are now being accused of persecution, expulsion, and genocide. Young people are not learning about the lessons from the Holocaust but instead are being indoctrinated with blood libels, Holocaust denial, and antisemitism. People are being led to believe that the Jews are the Nazis and have been committing genocide. Anti-Zionism is the new antisemitism. Whether you live in Israel or the Diaspora, we are colonizers, baby-killers, and practice apartheid.
What went wrong?
Teaching the Holocaust as a lesson in history means it is taught alongside lessons about Alexander the Great’s empire, the Roman Empire, the Mongol’s invasion of Asia and Europe, and Napoleon’s conquest of Europe. But Germany’s racial policies and the Holocaust are not merely history lessons but speak to the impact of the destruction of social order and morality. History memory fades but moral issues are always relevant. We have been lost in a flawed narrative.
And the message should not have been: Never Again!
Two thousand years of persecution, expulsion, and murder is a strong indicator that it will happen again. That is why I’ve always said, Never Forget.
So, here we are. Jews again face hatred. They are being singled out again. Jews believed that their government would protect them are discovering that it’s not happening in earnest.
We should have been known that our acceptance in our adopted country could be temporary, our allies may be unreliable, and public opinion can change with shocking speed.
We should have been taught how to prepare ourselves.
Because a Jew is a Jew is a Jew.
And history has shown, time and again, that those who hate Jews rarely care what kind of Jew you are.
What can we do to protect ourselves?
How about pushing the government to enforce the hate crime laws that already exist?
How about mandatory education for police on antisemitism and the Holocaust? In the US, there are Holocaust centres that have been designated to provide police personnel with mandatory education.
How about treating violent attacks against Jewish institutions as domestic terrorism and national security threats? Until someone fired shots at the US consulate in Toronto on March 10, 2026, no one cared that much about synagogues being targeted.
How about a Royal Commission on the root cases of antisemitism including antizionism? This would be a much better than the weak advisory body that has been proposed.
How about withholding public funds to universities and schools that do not protect Jewish students from discrimination, harassment, and other forms of hate?
How about reviewing our immigration policies to ensure we are not importing hate from other parts of the world?
Excellent points! You might add that Jewish leaders need to stand solidly and loudly with Israel, regardless of who the Prime Minister is. Our so called “leaders”in the Diaspora need to ALWAYS state in their speeches that without Israel, Jews would be totally unprotected and pitifully vulnerable, whether they are progressive Democrats or stand to the Right of center—because the antisemites won’t care. Jewish education should feature the history of Israel, with courses in how to respond to antisemites. Enough with politeness and piety; we know where that leads.