One hundred textbook publishers throughout the United States were urged by the Board of Superintendents of the New York city school system this weekend to provide textbooks which more adequately describe “Nazi brutalities and mass executions” as well as other aspects of totalitarianism.
The request was made in letters to the publishers from Associate Superintendent Ethel F. Huggard, who is in charge of curriculum development for the Board of Education. Asserting that “serious deficiencies” in textbook treatment of Nazi brutalities have been widely criticized, Dr. Huggard cited in the letter a statement of policy approved by the Board of Superintendents on September 27.
The letter said that “an examination of a representative selection of textbooks in this field shows that some of them are lacking in adequate treatment of nazism, particularly in regard to Nazi persecution of minorities. While a few texts give satisfactory accounts, many would require substantial revision to give our students adequate knowledge and understanding of Nazi brutalities and mass executions.”
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