Update on Holocaust
Art Spiegelman’s books MAUS I and II tell the story of his experience interviewing and recording his father’s memories of the Holocaust. In the same year that Spiegelman published Maus II the national phenomenon of Holocaust Denial began. The Jewish Virtual Library defines the term Holocaust Denial stating, “One of the most notable anti-Semitic propaganda movements to develop over the past two decades that has been the organized effort to deny or minimize the established history of Nazi genocide against the Jews”. In the United States this movement began with publication of editorial-style advertisements in college campus newspapers. The ads often call for an “Open debate on the Holocaust”, implying that there is a reasonable doubt over whether or not it occurred. Many other of these Holocaust Denial websites use innocuous sounding domain names in their advertisements. In addition to creating their own web pages, believers in Holocaust Denial have been known to intentionally crash the websites of legitimate Holocaust and Jewish discussion groups. Although these paid advertisements have not been shown to be affecting large populations of students into reconsidering the validity of the Holocaust, their mere presence is troubling. The Anti-Semitic beliefs behind Holocaust Denial are chillingly similar to the beliefs that originally brought Hitler into power.
In the United States each of the states individually establish their educational policy therefore there is no national curriculum for teaching about the Holocaust. According to the ITF (The Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research) only five states have created laws that require the teaching of the Holocaust, including California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York. Of the five states only two have created extensive and detailed curricula. Two other states have less detailed guidelines for teaching the Holocaust and unfortunately the state of Illinois has not created any guidelines or curricula.
While the Holocaust is not a nationally mandated subject have created social studies standards for their schools. Considering that standards are playing an increasingly more important role in education in the United States, it is very likely that the majority of schools will address the Holocaust. Furthermore according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, as of 2004 there were approximately 900 professors teaching Holocaust-related courses at the university level in the U.S. The Holocaust is also addressed in most introductory American, European, and world history courses on campuses across the United States.
In the United States each of the states individually establish their educational policy therefore there is no national curriculum for teaching about the Holocaust. According to the ITF (The Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research) only five states have created laws that require the teaching of the Holocaust, including California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York. Of the five states only two have created extensive and detailed curricula. Two other states have less detailed guidelines for teaching the Holocaust and unfortunately the state of Illinois has not created any guidelines or curricula.
While the Holocaust is not a nationally mandated subject have created social studies standards for their schools. Considering that standards are playing an increasingly more important role in education in the United States, it is very likely that the majority of schools will address the Holocaust. Furthermore according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, as of 2004 there were approximately 900 professors teaching Holocaust-related courses at the university level in the U.S. The Holocaust is also addressed in most introductory American, European, and world history courses on campuses across the United States.
Update on Author
Art Spiegelman published MAUS I in 1986 and MAUS II in 1991. Spiegelman received National Book Critics Circle Nominations for both parts. He also received the Special Pulitzer Prize in 1992. In addition to the Pulitzer, Spiegelman has received several other awards, including a Guggenheim fellowship, and an Eisner Award. In 2005 Time magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential People. MAUS I and II have been published in twenty different languages. Spiegelman published the 25th anniversary edition of his work titled MetaMaus in October of 2011. In this piece Spiegelman talks about his creative process in creating MAUS I and II. MetaMaus also includes a DVD that includes audio interviews between Spiegelman and his father, historical documents, and many of Spiegelman’s own private notebooks and sketches. This 25th anniversary version of Spiegelman’s work is a National Jewish Book Award winning piece. During an interview with the Washington Post Spiegelman stated, “There will never be a ‘Maus 3,’ “ Spiegelman says. “So with words and pictures ... I tried with rigor to create a new book that has honesty and emotional resonance.” According to Jewishvirtuallibrary.org Spiegelman currently lives with his wife and two children in Lower Manhattan. Some of his more recent works include Little Lit, and In the Shadow of No Towers.