Gavin Leek
Mrs. Keeth
English I
5 May 2023
Holocaust Denial is a Crime
Should denying the holocaust be a crime punishable by law? Some people think it’s okay to say that the Holocaust never happened. Even though it did happen and millions of Jews died. Others think Holocaust denial should be a crime in the US and that freedom of speech should not protect it. The US should also be teaching about the Holocaust in schools.
The right to freedom of speech should not allow Holocaust denial. Freedom of speech does not mean people can say anything they want and not get in trouble. For instance people cannot go to an airport and yell bomb or go to a movie theater and yell fire without getting in trouble. The same should go for Holocaust denial. Holocaust
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For example Holocaust denial is a crime in most European countries. According to Kahn “Most European countries have responded to denial with legal prosecutions.” (Para 2). In Europe Holocaust denial was under different types of laws. For example it was under defamation of the dead and under falsification of history. Eventually Holocaust denial became a crime itself. While in the United States there is no punishment. According to Kahn ``There have been no prosecutions of Holocaust deniers in the United States'' (Para 4). The First Amendment protects Holocaust denial in the United States. That will not change so Holocaust denial is legal. But the people who say that this never happened are …show more content…
Students are not learning enough about the Holocaust. According to Ascoli “Virginia requires four years of high school history, and World History II is the only course that touches on the Holocaust. State guidelines for this class include teaching 61 broad topics -- one of them folds the Holocaust into "examples of genocide in the 21st century." (Para 12). If schools are not talking about the Holocaust more people are going to start denying that it ever happened. Ascoli states “We need to make sure the lessons of the Holocaust outlive the last survivors.” (Para 15). If we don’t learn about the Holocaust the words of the survivors could be forgotten. It could also lead to a second Holocaust. Hopefully teaching about the Holocaust should make people realize why it should be a