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Letter To The Toronto Sun, Canada

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  • Letter To The Toronto Sun, Canada

    LETTERS TO THE EDITOR COLUMN

    The Toronto Sun
    June 27, 2008 Friday
    Canada

    HOLODOMOR WILL BE STUDIED

    Peter Worthington's "Study of genocide must include Holodomor"
    (June 24) contained erroneous information. As a Toronto District
    School Board trustee who is intensely interested in the issue of
    the genocide curriculum, I can emphatically state the Holodomor of
    1932-1933 is included in the curriculum of the course. It is important
    to note that one of the specific course expectations states: "students
    will analyze how extreme natural or political circumstances (famine,
    epidemics, war, and dictatorships) can lead to massive displacements
    and instability." This is integral to the main rationale for teaching
    this course: Global citizenship and responsibility.

    There are several units within the course that deal with the Holodomor
    specifically, including the unit on war crimes tribunals that
    examines the omission of Stalin's responsibility for the Ukrainian
    Famine. Required reading for the course, Genocide by Jane Springer,
    includes the Ukrainian Famine. Significant historical events such as
    the Holodomor are not being dismissed at the TDSB. On the contrary,
    historical study in this course will go beyond the three core topic
    areas to include a number of other well known examples (such as Darfur)
    in order to broaden the students' understanding of the scope of this
    topic. The Ukrainian community has expressed concern that the Holodomor
    was not chosen to be one of the three main examples of genocide studied
    in depth. There were three genocides chosen -- Armenian, Holocaust and
    Rwanda to be studied more intensely for specific reasons. The course
    was never intended to rate the importance of certain genocides. Board
    staff have done an exemplary job of bringing to our students this
    important course -- the first, to my knowledge, in Canada.
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