A resolution requesting the Metropolitan Board of Public Education and the Director of Schools to take the necessary steps to make teaching about the Holocaust a part of the school curriculum at the appropriate grade level.

WHEREAS, Nashville, Tennessee has just recently witnessed the dedication of the Nashville Holocaust Memorial at the Jewish Community Center; and

WHEREAS, in observing the dedication, the message of "never again" was made very clear; and

WHEREAS, from 1933 until the Allies liberated Europe in 1945, six million Jewish people were killed in the Holocaust, and of that six million, one and a half million were children; and

WHEREAS, as time passes, the number of people who actually lived through and experienced the Holocaust declines therefore necessitating memorials and documentation and teachings in order to preserve this horrible time in history; and

WHEREAS, as horrible as the events were during that period of time, we need to understand the atrocities of the Holocaust for the simple and plain reason that if we choose to forget our history, it is likely to be repeated. We have an obligation to teach our children that there is no place in our community for hatred, bigotry or intolerance. We cannot and must not ever let such atrocities happen again to any one or any group. It is our responsibility to teach our children how to respond to the ongoing scourge of genocide in the present.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:

Section 1. That the Metropolitan County Council hereby goes on record as requesting the Office of the Director of Schools and the Metropolitan Nashville Board of Education take the necessary steps to make teaching about the Holocaust a part of the school curriculum at the appropriate grade level.

Section 2. The Metropolitan Clerk is requested to send a copy of this Resolution to the Office of the Director of Schools and to each member of the Metropolitan Board of Public Education.

Section 3. This Resolution shall take effect from and after its adoption, the welfare of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County requiring it.

Sponsored by: Jim Shulman, Lynn Williams, Diane Neighbors, Buck Dozier