A nation can not survive without possessing an educated citizenry. The chief purpose of an enlightened government is to ensure individual liberty, and education is paramount to the that insurance.
Two of the most horrific events in history, slavery and the Holocaust, had at their core an attempt to destroy individual liberty. While the suffering encountered was great, the oppressors were incapable of destroying the spirit of the victims. Liberty is given by the Creator and cannot be taken away. Only freedom, given by a government, can be taken away.
The 110th U.S. Congress has recognized the importance of education’s role in reminding us history‘s lessons, lest we forget, and the significance of slavery and the Holocaust. The two principles were welded together in two bills: S 963 and S 1592 (identical to HR 2707).
S 963, introduced by Robert Menendez, authorizes the Secretary of Education to a make grants to educational organizations to carry out educational programs about the Holocaust. Known as the “Simon Wiesenthal Holocaust Education Assistance Act,”
S 963 proposes “to portray accurate information and to sensitize communities to the circumstances that gave rise to the Holocaust.”
Six states ( CA, FL, IL, NJ, NY, & MA) currently teach Holocaust courses; eleven other states recommend its teaching.
The legislation advocates programs that would improve awareness and understanding of the Holocaust. Named after the concentration camp survivor and Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal, the bill appropriates $2,000,000 for each of 5 fiscal years.
Like the Underground Railroad education legislation, S963 will need to be reintroduced in the next Congress. The London Times for 11/17/08 reports that every secondary school in the United Kingdom is to have a Holocaust specialist.
S1592, introduced by Sherrod Brown ( also a co-sponsor of S963) will also need to be reintroduced during the 111th U.S. Congress. Identical to Dennis Kucinich’s HR 2707, S1592 institutes the Underground Railroad Education and Cultural Program. HR2707 passed in the House by a voice vote on July 30, 2007.
Under S1592, the Secretary of Education is authorized “to make grants to 1 or more educational organizations that are established to research, display, interpret and collect artifact, relating to the history of the Underground Railroad.” The bill also stipulates the establishment of a facility to house such artifacts; the encouragement of public-private partnerships. The bill’s appropriations were $6,000,000 for each of the first and second years; $3,000,000 for each of the third, fourth, and fifth years.
While we must wait for the reintroduction and passage of S963 and S1592 in the U.S. Senate, we can appreciate two sculptures permanently exhibited at Spencer Plaza at 800 French St. in Wilmington, Delaware.
Artist Elbert Weinberg created the Holocaust sculpture, commemorating the victims. Dedicated in 1979, the work measures 228 inches in height; 84 inches in width; and 108 inches in depth. Three abstract shaped cement blocks in a triangular pattern are inscribed with Chelmno, Treblinka, Belzac, Birkenua, Buchenwald, Ponary, Dachau, Janowski,Bergen-Belsen, and Auschwitz. In between the blocks are 3 bronze reliefs: a female holding a child; female, and a man.
The sculpture commemorating the Underground Railroad was erected in 1976. The sculpture has bronze relief of Harriet Tubman and Thomas Garrett. The sculpture displays a plaque giving a brief description of the Underground Railroad. The work is 67 inches in height; 26 inches in width; and 30 inches in depth.
The Philosopher George Santayana said it best: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
