The Last Witness (8 page)

Salmon was shaking his head back and forth. Christine went on to the next text.

“Now if we go to 1996 we have this textbook. There is a chapter on World War II … I mean the Second World War … and two full pages on the Nazi death camps.” She opened up the book to a two-page spread. On one side was a photograph of Jews in striped clothes standing behind a barbed-wire fence. “It talks about the Final Solution. It talks about the death camps at Dachau and Bergen-Belsen.”

“There is a lot of scholarly debate about that,” shot back Salmon. “On one side you have the point of view that these were death camps, pure and simple, and on the other side something less than that. The term has often been mentioned but …” and his voice trailed off.

Christine tried to plod ahead with her argument, but felt she was sinking into a quagmire. “This book talks about Treblinka, Sobibor, Maidanek and Auschwitz … and these ones were all death camps.” A surge of confidence and she tossed a glance at Salmon. No reaction. “It talks about the gas chambers and how the Nazis dropped Zyklon B gas through an opening in the ceiling.”

“Does it say how many Jews were killed by the Nazis?” asked Salmon.

“Yes,” said Christine, consulting the book. “It says right here.
‘It is estimated that six million people were put to death.’
”

“Estimated.”

“Yes.”

Salmon looked over to the Chair. “Can I say something?”

“Go ahead,” said the Chair.

“Having this kind of material in a history class … any history class … but especially for kids in senior public school can be very damaging. It uses estimates … she said so herself … and innuendo. Estimates and innuendo do not belong in a history text.”

All around the table were nods from the other board members, and then one of them interjected.

“That photograph,” said a woman, pointing to the book in Christine’s hand. “I have a problem with a photograph like that.”

“Why?” said Christine.

“It’s in bad taste. We’re talking about thirteen-year-olds. I don’t think they should be seeing things like that. It’s bad enough we’re talking about war. We aren’t showing them pictures of bodies being ripped apart, are we? I’m glad we don’t have photographs like that anymore, never mind 3D images in the e-readers we use now. That kind of thing was traumatic for those kids. I don’t think we should be in the business of upsetting them.”

“I tend to agree,” said Salmon, “provided we don’t shortchange history.”

The Chair nodded in approval. She looked at Christine. “You have other books with you?”

“Yes I do. This one here is from the year 2000. It lumps in the Great Depression and World War II … sorry … the Second World War … into one chapter. There are three pages on the holocaust … the Jewish holocaust … so we can see a trend here. As we proceed from one book to the next … and I’m talking about forty years ago … the teaching of the holocaust was actually increasing but ever since 2000 the opposite has been happening.” Christine put another book on the table. “This is the standard history textbook from 2012. It has four pages on the Second World War and one paragraph on the Jewish holocaust. That was the last hardcover. Now this is the text from 2018. It was the first e-reader issued for this course. A pocket kindle.”

“Another antique. Look how big it is.”

It was the same person who had denigrated the old textbook earlier.

“There is but one line … one sentence … on the Jewish holocaust,” said Christine.

“That thing is so big it wouldn’t even fit in your hand.”

“It was almost twenty years ago,” said Christine.

“Yes,” said the Chair. “When that came out it was revolutionary but look, we’re not here to discuss technology. We’re here to discuss content. Are we not?”

Christine gave her a nod. “That’s right,” she said. “But the point I want to make is that first e-reader or not, there was only one sentence on the Jewish holocaust. One sentence. And this here is what we’re using now.”

She took out her latest mini kindle. It contained all the books and source materials for Grade 8 students.

“The text for the course is called
An Overview of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
and it was released just last year so it’s new. There is absolutely no mention of the Jewish holocaust in it … nothing at all … but there are several pages about the Christian holocaust of 2029 in Turkey.”

“The Christian holocaust
?” said Salmon. “You mean
the
holocaust, don’t you? The Great Holocaust.”

Salmon looked like he was getting angry.

“Look,” said Salmon. “This whole thing is ridiculous. We’re talking about the teaching of
history
. When we teach Grade 8 history do we tell them about the persecution of early Christians at the hands of the Romans? No. And if we did that would belong in a religion class in a private school setup. They can teach that in a bible class or in a Jewish school if they want but certainly not in a public school. It has no place in a public school. When we teach Grade 8 history do we tell them about the genocide of Armenians at the hands of the Turks during the First World War?
No. The government of Turkey has never even acknowledged that such an event took place. When we teach Grade 8 history do we tell them about massacres in Africa where tribalism is rampant even today? No. Places like Rwanda and Darfur and Zimbabwe hold little meaning for kids in Grade 8. They couldn’t even find these places on a map. Lots of them couldn’t find Africa on a map.”

“What about black kids in Grade 8?” one of the board members asked.

“That is a good question,” Salmon said. “But we don’t have many black kids in Grade 8 in our schools. Not here in Wellington County. The point I’m trying to make is that history has to be relevant to our students and even if they are black kids are you suggesting we turn around the curriculum in order to meet their needs? Just because they happen to be black and because many generations ago their ancestors might have come from Africa? If we did that then we’d have to do the same for every other kid and consider where they came from. Why you would be teaching a different course for every student.”

The Chair nodded her head in agreement. Salmon went on.

“In a history class and in a history text we should stick to known facts and not become engaged in hyperbole. The fact of the matter is nobody knows exactly how many Jews were killed by the Nazis a hundred years ago. It’s impossible to know.”

“Do we even know for certain if there was a program designed to kill Jews?”

It was a man not much older than Christine.

“Of course there was,” said Christine. “That goes without saying.”

“How do we know that?” he said. “How do
you
know?”

Christine didn’t want to get into it, but they weren’t giving her much choice. “My great-grandfather is a survivor of the holocaust,” she said. “The Jewish holocaust. He was born in Poland in 1939 and he was in a camp. Auschwitz. I know first-hand what he went through.”

“You know first-hand?” said Salmon. “How is that?”

“He told me.”

“Ah he told you. And as a teacher do you believe everything that everybody tells you?”

Christine was taken aback with that one.

“I see what the situation is now,” said Salmon. “With this young lady the problem is … personal. She’s Jewish and …”

“Who said I was Jewish?” Christine said.

“You did, didn’t you?”

“No. I’m Catholic and so is my great-grandfather. But he was born a Jew and he was at Auschwitz.”

The Chair broke in. “This man, your great-grandfather, he’s alive today?”

Christine nodded.

“How old is he, Christine?”

She was calling her Christine now. Not a good sign.

“He’s ninety-seven.”

“Ninety-seven?” repeated the Chair.

Salmon was smiling. “He’d have to be if what she says is true. So I gather he would’ve been one or two years old when he was at Auschwitz which begs the question. How can he remember things if he was only one or two years old at the time?”

“He was four years old,” said Christine.

“We are splitting hairs,” Salmon said.

“I think we are too,” said the Chair.

“Wait a minute.” It was the woman who had objected to the photograph from the old text book. “A lot of terrible things have happened in history with people having absolutely no regard for other people. I don’t think the purpose of Grade 8 history is to horrify young minds with the brutality of the human race. If anything we want to give them hope. We don’t have to spell things out graphically like they used to years ago. That was wrong and that’s why the practise was stopped. Even when our texts tell them about the Great Holocaust … and I think we have an obligation to tell them about that … we don’t have to do it graphically.”

“So this is all about sanitizing the Jewish holocaust?” said Christine. “Is that it?”

“No.” Salmon again. “It’s not about sanitizing anything. It’s about reporting known facts in a way that young minds can process. Six million Jews dead at the hands of Nazi Germany is not a known fact. Neither is five million dead or three million dead. We just don’t know. We do know however that fifty thousand Christians were slaughtered in Turkey by fundamentalist Muslims. It’s all documented and it’s recent history.”

“The Jewish holocaust was documented too,” said Christine.

“My dear young lady,” said Salmon, “let me tell you something. For every fact you claim or source you can give me about the Jewish holocaust I can provide another one to contradict it. I can give you sources explaining how it was impossible that so many people were killed. Impossible. And today, as I’m sure you know, a number of international scholars question the very nature of that particular event. Not just the magnitude of it but the
very nature
of it.”

“What do you mean the very nature of it?” said Christine.

“They are questioning whether it even happened,” said the young man who had spoken before.

“Whether it even happened?”

“That’s right. I’ve read a lot about this myself and it does get you thinking. But isn’t that what education is supposed to be about? To make people think?”

“What kind of thinking is it when you deny something happened when we know perfectly well that it did?” said Christine.

“The point,” said the Chair, “is to let people think for themselves and allow them to reach their own conclusions.”

“May I?” Salmon again. The Chair gave him a nod. “Current scholarship holds that Jews were persecuted by Nazi Germany. There is no debate about that. But there is debate … considerable debate on this matter I might add … as to how many were actually killed and also
how
they were killed. There is one view that says the Nazis never used gas chambers to kill Jews and other people. Let’s not forget that we’re not only talking about Jews. We’re also talking about Poles, Catholics, members of the clergy, homosexuals, intellectuals, communists, Gypsies … a lot of different people. It’s not only about the Jews.”

It was a speech.

“What about ovens?” said Christine.

“Oh please,” said the young man at the far end of the table.

“What about ovens?” Christine said again.

“I see where you’re going with this,” said Salmon. “At one time there were reports that scores of people were disposed of in ovens … burned alive … and that horrible experiments took place but many of those reports have since been discredited as being inaccurate or exaggerated.
Why even the sworn testimony of some survivors themselves was shown to be full of inconsistencies.” He stopped and heaved a long sigh. “History evolves. It always evolves and the scholarship evolves as well. As more things come to light we are able to look at history … any period of history … with a more enhanced open mind.” Salmon looked straight at Christine. “Surely you’re aware that in some societies teaching of the Jewish holocaust is against the law?”

“You mean Arab countries?” Christine said.

“Yes and even in some school boards in the United States and Great Britain. For over thirty years now a number of boards in the United Kingdom haven’t taught anything about this matter at all for fear of upsetting an ever increasing number of Muslim students. Muslims comprise a large percentage of the student body in some of these boards and the students’ parents vehemently object to this sort of thing being taught in much the same way that you object to using this particular text in your history class. That’s what happens when we allow history to become …
personal
. What’s that text called again? The new one?”

“What text?” said Christine.

“The one you so strenuously object to using.”

“You mean the one we’re using now?”

“Yes. That one.”

“An Overview of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries.”

“I see.” Salmon clasped his hands together and placed them on the table in front of him. “And who is the author of this book?”

Christine picked up the mini kindle and advanced her thumb through the pages to the front cover. “Oh my God,” she said.

There in small type was the name of John Salmon. One and the same.

“You wrote it?” she asked him.

“I’m afraid so.”

The Chair couldn’t hide her chuckling. “We have many items on our agenda today and I think we’ve given this piece of business more than due course. Christine Fisher has drafted a motion that will be tabled for consideration by the board. All of you have this draft at your disposal. Her draft motion is to replace the current Grade 8 history text and to begin searching for a new text from another publisher.”

“Can’t we just vote on it now?” said Salmon. “We all read it.”

There were nods around the table.

“Fine then,” said the Chair. “Let’s have a show of hands. All those in favor?”

Christine raised her hand, a meek form of protest. It was the only hand that went up.

“I’m afraid you don’t have a vote,” said the Chair. “This is confined to members of the board.”

“Sorry.”

“Opposed.”

It was unanimous.

“The draft motion is defeated.”

The Chair, implicit matriarch of the Upper Grand District School Board representing one hundred elementary and secondary schools in Wellington County, showed Christine a wan smile. “You’ll have to keep using that same text, I’m afraid. John’s. It might not be perfect but it’s the best one we’ve got. Thank you for coming today.”