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Sarkozy Criticized By Secularists For Revisions In Holocaust Curriculum

By Howard Friedman

According to Saturday's New York Times, French President Nicholas Sarkozy has created a new controversy by revising the way in which French school children will learn about the Holocaust. He wants every French 5th grader to learn and identify with the life story of one of the 11,000 French Jewish children killed by the Nazis. Sarkozy added to the consternation of French secularists who are already upset with his frequent references to God and religion by describing his new Holocaust curriculum in religious terms. (See prior posting.) He called Nazi beliefs in racial superiority "radically incompatible with Judeo-Christian monotheism." Some historians argue that Sarkozy's approach distracts attention from the Vichy government?s collaboration with the Nazis, and that it could also create resentment among ethnic Arabs and Africans whose history is not getting the same treatment.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on February 16, 2008 (boomark / email).