Laws requiring teaching of the Holocaust

A number of countries maintain laws requiring the presentation of information concerning actions of the government of Germany regarding Jews in its territory during the period of that government's control by the National Socialist (Nazi) German Worker's Party from 1933 to 1945, commonly referred to as the Holocaust. In the United States, laws of this kind are maintained by individual states and typically specify curriculum content and the ages of the pupils to which various portions of the curricula are to be presented.

Many of the particulars of conformance with these laws are specified or influenced by policies and pronouncements of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Holocaust Remembrance, and Holocaust Research. A country's membership in this organization, however, does not necessarily imply any legal mandate within said country regarding Holocaust education.

Laws prohibiting "Holocaust denial" are maintained by many—but not all—of the same jurisdictions that have these laws. These laws apply to individuals and involve criminal punishment and therefore they are in all cases separate statutes.

As of November 2013, laws mandating education about the Holocaust were on the books in Austria, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as well as in the American states of California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York. In Pennsylvania, 2014 Act 70, while not yet imposing a mandate, states that schools "may offer instruction in the Holocaust, genocide and human rights violations to students". The Pennsylvania State Board of Education will conduct a study to determine, after the 2016–2017 school year, the number of schools offering instruction over the Holocaust, genocide and human rights violations. If less than ninety percent of schools offer such instruction, the Act states that a regulation will be adopted to require such instruction.

The instruction shall enable pupils to identify and analyze applicable theories concerning human nature and behavior: to understand that genocide is a consequence of prejudice and discrimination: and to understand that issues of moral dilemma and conscience have a profound impact on life. The instruction shall further emphasize the personal responsibility that each citizen bears to fight racism and hatred whenever and wherever it happens.

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