OH lawmaker draws backlash...teach Holocaust from the perspective of a German soldier

[Behind the Aegis]

Ohio lawmaker draws backlash after suggesting schools should teach the Holocaust ‘from the perspective of a German soldier’

A Jewish lawmaker in Ohio is deriding legislation to restrict race education in the state’s schools as the “draconian Holocaust censorship bill” after one of the bill’s Republican sponsors suggested that it is appropriate to teach about the Holocaust from the perspective of the Nazis.

State Rep. Sarah Fowler Arthur, who co-sponsored the bill, made the comments when explaining to a local news station why she believes that “divisive concepts” should be taught from multiple points of view.

“Maybe you’re going to listen to the perspective of someone from Poland when they were undergoing similar displacement, or when they were being incorporated into the war and to some of these camps. Or maybe you’re listening to it from the perspective of a Jewish person that has gone through the tragedies that took place,” she said, describing how a hypothetical lesson that complies with the law could unfold. “And maybe you’ll listen to it from the perspective of a German soldier.”

Fowler Arthur also mischaracterized how many Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and why they were murdered in her remarks, originally made to News 5 Cleveland in early March but not publicized by the station until Tuesday.

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[ck4829]

1. Then let's teach about 9/11 from Mohammed Atta's perspective.

[Caliman73]

2. I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with perspectives, in a good faith context.

That is not what Republicans are proposing however.

We have perspectives from German soldiers regarding why they fought and if they participated in the "Final Solution". There are accounts. Certainly those can be discussed in classes.

HOWEVER, there is no VALID Nazi perspective. There is NOTHING DIVISIVE about a race based GENOCIDE. Ask Modern Germans if there is any controversy to what Hitler did. It was an unmitigated act of evil perpetrated on Jewish people, LGBT people, Roma, disabled people, and more. 12 million people murdered, with intent. It is taught correctly as a lesson in how racist, White Supremacist ideology can lead to mass murder. All of the Nazi statements about "breathing space" and "useless eaters" were justification for Racial genocide.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. You sum up how I am thinking about this.

Yes, perspective can be useful, keep others from going down the same hateful road. However, this is not the intention of those proposing this nonsense. This is more along of the lines of "Slave Masters were kind and generous, and rarely beat slaves, who were happy to have a place to live and food to eat" bullshit we hear from revisionists and whitewashers of American history.

If anything, some of their perspective needs to be taught. Just a month or so back, Whoopi Goldberg stepped in it because she was using her perspective on race, and not the perspective of the Nazis, which is why what happened to the Jews, Slavs, Roma, and many others, happened, as well as other factors, of course.

The "other side" of issues need to be taught but done so with thought and historical accuracy, not the whim of some bigoted asshole trying to justify various crimes against people throughout history.

[Caliman73]

9. Exactly.

I am all for good faith discussion of issues.

Unfortunately Conservatives seem to have abandoned good faith discussion a long time ago.

They seek to minimize the destruction caused by the ideas of White Supremacy and racial hierarchy throughout history.

[Ray Bruns]

3. It always comes back to the Jews for these people.

You would think after several millennium of anti-semitism, they would come up with some new material.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. We are low-hanging fruit to many.

You would think after several millennium of anti-semitism, they would come up with some new material.

That's why things are called "golden oldies" because they are tried and true.

[Ohio Joe]

4. Can they be any more open that they are nazis...

Not really... Fucking repug nazis.

[Diamond_Dog]

5. This nincompoop was home schooled.

She never set foot in a classroom or volunteered or worked in a school building. Yet she thinks she knows best what Ohio’s schools should teach children.. unbelievable.

[tenderfoot]

6. This is what libertarians/righties mean by "the Marketplace of Ideas"

It's long past time to call that out.

Same goes for the term "Judeo-Christian".