Yad Vashem Statement on Sarkozy Initiative

(Jerusalem, February 17, 2008) "In Israel we begin teaching about the Holocaust at an early age. Yad Vashem has developed age appropriate methods to address the Holocaust in various ways in the classrooms, including through the individual stories of the victims. Overall, we think it is a positive educational approach, when done properly and with the necessary sensitivities, and with the teacher’s guidance, to both remember and identify with the individual Jewish children who died in the Holocaust -- through their personal stories we are able to redeem their identities from the oblivion to which the Nazis sought to consign them. This must be done in the appropriate context and take into account the background, age, cognitive and emotional maturity level of the children. Recalling each individual child, and learning about his/her life before the Holocaust allows for a much deeper and profound connection with the memory of the Holocaust. At Yad Vashem when we speak with children, about children in the Holocaust, we stress their life before the war, as well as survival during the Holocaust, and how children often took on adult roles during that time."