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David de Rothschild calms the debate

(source: http://www.fondationshoah.org)

Le Figaro, 20th February 2008 - Interviewed in Le Figaro, David de

Rothschild, President of the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah, added his

opinion to the debate which was stirred up by President Sarkozy’s proposition to

confer the memory of a deported child killed in the Shoah to every child in

CM2. He calls for a fundamental rethinking about the teaching of the Shoah in

the context of a wide consultation amongst teachers, parents and experts.

LE FIGARO : Several prominent personalities, including Simone Veil and

Claude Lanzmann have spoken out against the president’s project. In contrast,

Serge Klarsfeld, who is a member of the Foundation’s board of directors,

supports the idea. Where do you stand?

David de ROTHSCHILD: I appreciate the generous sentiments, but it is wrong to

pair up a murdered Jewish child with a living child. It’s too hard to bear. We

must depoliticise this issue. Nicolas Sarkozy wasn’t being opportunist. The

Shoah isn’t about gaining votes. The Jewish community is much too politically

and economically to be lining up behind a single leader. Nicolas Sarkozy had

nothing to gain with this measure.

LF : It’s been the cause of discord in the heart of Jewish institutions. Should it be

cancelled?

DdR : I don’t think so. We have to work on it further, refine it, listen to teachers

to work out how we can better discus the Shoah without exposing children to

morbid reflections. Children can work in groups on the fate of deported

children. We must talk about the Justes, French men and women who saved

the lives of so many children. That is absolutely worthwhile. We are an

initiative which is based on a broad consultation with teachers, parents,

personalities and experts on the Shoah.

LF : Is it really necessary to focus even more on the Shoah at school?

DdR : It’s already on the curriculum. Nonetheless it’s important not to become

complacent, because it’s a very delicate subject. We met with Xavier Darcos

two weeks ago who assured us that it would always be a fundamental part of

the primary curriculum, even though some teachers hesitate in the face of

certain difficulties. Some parents protest against it. However we are aware

that in the 2004 baccalauréat, almost 80 % of students chose a text by Primo

Levi about Auschwitz, which is evidence that it’s a subject about which they

are well aware.

LF : Do you think that teaching the history of the Shoah prevents anti-

Semitism?

DdR : I was born in 1942, the worst year of the war for the Jews of Europe. I

grew up surrounded by silence. I was stunned when I first saw the film Night

and Fog. And I was living in a milieu of engaged Jews. It’s important that

children become aware quite early in order for them to understand where

hatred, whether of the Jew, Black, White, can lead to, even in a civilized

country. It’s not unimportant in a country like France which hasn’t entirely

come to terms with being a multi-ethnic society.

LF : Is competitive victimhood something to worry about?

DdR : Absolutely not. If other communities want to focus attention on their

dramas, let them. As Jews, we must assume our fate and not be afraid of

animosity, or to put it frankly, anti-Semitism. Some have tried to hide their

Jewishness, so as not to make waves. You aren’t protected because you deny

who you are. We have to bear our history collectively. We aren’t demanding

that other people repent, but that they understand. The fact of other tragedies

in no way banalises our own.

Interview by Cécilia Gabizon

Listen to a radio interview with David de Rothschild on this subject on RCJ,

broadcast