Laurie Cardoza-Moore, president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, is asking Florida citizens who want Holocaust education in public schools to support the importance of teaching about the Holocaust and the ramifications of antisemitism.

The Florida Department of Education invited PJTN to draft K-12 Holocaust Standards for consideration for adoption. Cardoza-Moore’s team of Holocaust experts worked diligently for four months to draft Holocaust Standards that address the rising threat of antisemitism. (See Heritage article “Laurie Cardoza-Moore: Get Holocaust education into schools, anti-Semitism out,” April 16, 2021) 

“Unfortunately, we have received opposition from left-wing groups that are using the Holocaust standards to peddle Critical Race Theory by minimizing the Holocaust and the six million men, women and children who perished at the hands of the Nazis,” said Cardoza-Moore. “Additionally, they deemed our K-12 standards ‘too Zionist,’ [and] their attacks threaten adoption of our recommendations,” she added.

Cardoza-Moore has stated that attempts to universalize the Holocaust or use it as a “passing reference” to teach about racism and inequality are both a falsification of its history and an insult to the memory of six million Jews. She further stated that Holocaust education must emphasize the unique nature of the Nazi’s final solution for the Jews, which culminated in the murder of 6 million Jews and is unlike any other genocide in history.

On teaching Holocaust education to K-5 students — which was disputed by the Florida Holocaust Task Force — she explained students in lower grades should be taught about Jewish culture and their impact on history. “Otherwise, the student’s first interaction with Jews will be through the prism of victimhood and Nazi philosophy,” she said. “Holocaust education that focuses on Jews as a hated relic of the past is a recipe to fuel antisemitism for generations to come.”

To read the petition, paste or enter the following address in your browser: https://www.pjtn.org/open_letter_desantis

Please add your name, title and organization to the growing number of over 130+ Jewish and Christian leaders who signed the petition that will be submitted to Florida Education Commissioner Corcoran for adoption.