January 27, 2023 marked the 78th year of the liberation of Auschwitz. I was reading an article that noted Eddo Verdoner, the Netherlands’ national coordinator on combating antisemitism, said in a statement it was “shocking to see that 23% of millennials and gen z believe the Holocaust is either a myth or has been exaggerated.”

He said the finding “points to a growing gap in knowledge and awareness. We must do better in our schools to fight Holocaust distortion wherever we find it.”

I received a phone call from my daughter, Rachel, who is a special education teacher in Clifton School #5 and was thrilled about what she had seen. While walking in the school hallway, she noticed children’s writings about the Holocaust posted on the bulletin board. She approached the teacher, whose name is Marissa Cannataro and teaches fifth grade, to ask her about the teaching of the Holocaust. She told my daughter that she incorporates the Holocaust in her curriculum. Ms. Cannataro feels and believes that this subject should not be ignored and children should be made aware of what truly happened.

Ms. Cannataro is an exceptional and amazing teacher and human being for having her students learn the truth about what happened in the Holocaust.

It is such a blessing and mitzvah that Ms. Cannataro wants to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive, since there is such an upsurge of racism and antisemitism all over the world.

Pearl Stern
Paramus