Sarkozy defends Holocaust proposal - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

LaRondo · #1 02-15-2008, 12:29 PM

Sarkozy defends Holocaust proposal amid uproar

By Richard Balmforth 2 hours, 38 minutes ago

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy, facing a tide of criticism over his call for schoolchildren to "adopt" Jewish child victims of the Holocaust, hit back on Friday saying France had to raise children "with open eyes."

In a speech praising faith that also drew fire from secularists, Sarkozy told France's Jewish community on Wednesday that every 10-year-old schoolchild should be "entrusted with the memory of a French child victim of the Holocaust."

The proposal unleashed a storm of protest from teachers, psychologists and his political foes who said it would unfairly burden children with the guilt of previous generations and some could be traumatized by identifying with a Holocaust victim.

More than 11,100 French Jewish children were deported from France to Auschwitz and other Nazi death camps in eastern Europe during the German World War Two occupation.

"The emotional burden can have negative consequences for a child who is developing," Gilles Moindrot, general secretary of the Snuipp-FSU trade union which represents most primary school teachers, said in a statement.
"One can not place on a child of 11 the responsibility for what happened back then."

The EMDH children's rights group said: "No educational project should be constructed on death."
But Sarkozy, speaking in Perigueux in central France, brushed off the uproar.
"It is ignorance that produces abominable situations. It is not knowledge," he said in a speech. "Let us make our children, children with open eyes who are not complacent."
"Believe me, you will not traumatize children by giving them the gift of the memory of a country ... Any psychologist will tell you: you have to tell a child the truth," he said.
With Sarkozy's popularity ratings already at a low point, the controversy could further hurt his political standing only a month before key local elections when France will deliver its first judgment on his nine months in office.

AMMUNITION FOR FOES
The clamor gave fresh ammunition to Sarkozy's political foes, who charge him with erratic behavior and say his hyperactivity masks a lack of real policies.
"Really this president is extraordinary! One day he is preaching God to us ... Now he has suddenly become a teacher. He is deciding what's a good and what's a bad way to go about educating young children," fumed left-wing Senator Jean-Luc Melenchon.

But Sarkozy won support from opposition Socialist leader Francois Hollande and the president's conservative UMP party rallied in support.
Education Minister Xaviet Darcos assured people the project would be handled in a practical, low-profile way. "We won't be putting a policeman in each classroom," he told reporters.

The storm around the Holocaust proposal coincided with publication of a new poll that suggested Sarkozy's public romancing of supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni was the factor that had hurt his national image most.

Sarkozy and Bruni married secretly earlier this month but his critics saw the highly-publicized affair as a distraction too early in office.
The OpinionWay poll, conducted on the Internet for le Figaro and news channel LCI, found 82 percent of respondents believed Sarkozy's private life fell short of that of a head of state.

Mistress · #2 02-15-2008, 12:47 PM

Wtf...

LaRondo · #3 02-15-2008, 01:16 PM

That's what I'm saying ...

tankdriver · #4 02-15-2008, 08:50 PM

French

cudaspaz · #5 02-15-2008, 09:03 PM

maybe I read it wrong, but is he just trying to educate these kids with a history lesson that may teach them that a whole nation of people were almost wiped off the face of the earth by hateful dictators?

Remember, the governing bodies used propoganda and fear to brainwash the masses into hating the Jews, they disarmed the Jews right off, and turned the whole continent against them.

If that's the case, I think it's a great idea.

I think he's worried about the moral decay and complacency of the young generation that may never hear the story of the events that took place in the past from the likes of Adolf Hitler and Mussolini.

I think the socialists over there are threatened by any suggestion that would attempt to educate the masses and have them think on their own, and even worse, suspect their own government of some of the same warning signs.

Looks like the liberal media is his worst enemy over there too.

davidmash · #6 02-15-2008, 09:28 PM

I think I like the idea. Perhaps the age a which this is done should be a little older say 14 or 15 and instead of just jewish children, I would prefer that it be any child who was deported. Granted, most would be jews but making it more inclusive would make the lesson more complete. It could happen to anyone.

As I recall, when you go to the Holocaust Museum in DC, you are given a passport of sorts with the name and bio of a person who was in the camps, ome survived, most did not. At the end of the tour, you can research what became of the individual you carried in your hands through out the day at the museum. It makes it a bit more personal and real.

I would like to see the same done for the folks who died at the hands of Stalin, Pol-Pot, Bosnia, Dafur, South Africa and the list goes on. Unfortunately, no one seems to keep records of their deeds like the nazis did. Anal retentive little *****s buried them selves with that.

tankdriver · #7 02-15-2008, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cudaspaz

maybe I read it wrong, but is he just trying to educate these kids with a history lesson that may teach them that a whole nation of people were almost wiped off the face of the earth by hateful dictators?

You read it wrong. He's compelling children to place significance on a specific minority's history.
It would not be unlike public schools forcing 10 year olds to choose a slave brought over to America, and commit to learning every aspect of that slave's life.

Now, slavery has had much less importance placed upon it than the Holocaust has and it would be nice if this generation were better able to relate to the history of slavery, but 10 year olds shouldn't be compelled by the government to do so.

rwthomas1 · #8 02-15-2008, 10:25 PM

God forbid actually teaching kids about millions of people rounded up and annihilated. Teaching about Jews specifically, maybe not, but there are plenty of non-Jews that got rounded up. The world isn't all flowers & bunnies and at age 10 most kids understand that more than we know. RT

A264172 · #9 02-15-2008, 11:15 PM

Sarkozy will be remembered as the 'Regan' of france someday... you'll see.

Trakehner · #10 02-16-2008, 01:02 AM

I think all (French) children should learn about the Shoah and I think they should start learning about it from age 8. I think all French children should take a class trip to Drancy at least twice. I don't think the children should "adopt" a victim.
The French, and Europeans in general, need to be educated more completely about certain matters. Carla Bruni's stupid remarks in Le Figaro the other day prove my point. But at least she apologized.
I don't like Sarkozy, I probably dislike him even more than Cecilia does! Sarkozy talked about a lot more than the holocaust in that speech but the French realize he's a foolish man and paid little attention to his other proposals.

Hatterasguy · #11 02-16-2008, 01:15 AM

Its a good idea, but I think 10 is a bit to young.

They should devote it to anyone who was sent to the camps, that way the teachers can turn it into a discussion about the evils of totalitarian states. The discussion can morph into the evils of Soviet Russia, Communist China and Korea, etc.

Life can be pretty brutal and all people are capible under the right conditions to do some pretty evil things. So we need to be remineded of these things. They should also learn about the people who commited these acts, because they are not some 4 headed monster. Evil can look very normal on the outside.

A264172 · #12 02-16-2008, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trakehner

I think all (French) children should learn about the Shoah and I think they should start learning about it from age 8. I think all French children should take a class trip to Drancy at least twice. I don't think the children should "adopt" a victim...

What would adopting a victim involve beyond reading a one page bio. of a countrymans journey 70 years ago? Ten year olds think about this kind of stuff already. If Sarkozy is trying to lead his country away from persecuting people for their race or religion and toward persecuting them for their actions, then it sounds like good message to me.

tankdriver · #13 02-16-2008, 10:55 AM

Then you guys would support the same governmental complusion compulsion here for slaves brought over from Africa? It would be ridiculous to compare tragedies, but as significant events go, I'd say they were equivalent. 13 million died crossing the Atlantic on slave ships, literally stacked on top of each other, starved, diseased, and with no option but to live in their excrement for the 3 months or so it took to cross.

A264172 · #14 02-16-2008, 11:05 AM

Why not? It used to be called civics class, I don't know what they call it now, but they're pitching something for 45 minutes a day, and I'd bet their is 'similar' stuff in the curriculum currently. There's a difference between favoring a group and refusing to publicly acknowledge their existence.

Botnst · #15 02-16-2008, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tankdriver

You read it wrong. He's compelling children to place significance on a specific minority's history.
It would not be unlike public schools forcing 10 year olds to choose a slave brought over to America, and commit to learning every aspect of that slave's life.

Now, slavery has had much less importance placed upon it than the Holocaust has and it would be nice if this generation were better able to relate to the history of slavery, but 10 year olds shouldn't be compelled by the government to do so.

Black History Month.