Jobbik: Mandatory class on Holocaust “dangerous”

Budapest, May 28 (MTI) – The introduction of a mandatory class on the history of the Holocaust is “counterproductive, professionally flawed and a dangerous precedent”, the radical nationalist Jobbik party said on Thursday.

Earlier this week, Peter Pazmany Catholic University said it would introduce a mandatory class on the history of the Holocaust from September.

Gergely Farkas, the head of Jobbik’s youth arm, said in a statement that it was “likely” the university was acting on “pressure from Israel”. Farkas said the announcement had “caused a stir” at the university, adding that it was possible “the university could lose a number of applicants in the near future”.

Farkas said secondary school students take part in memorial services on International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 as well as on April 16, Hungary’s Holocaust Memorial Day. This amounts to at least eight days a year, he said, adding that it is “doubtful” that students need to expand their knowledge about the Holocaust as part of their university studies.

Farkas asked education policymakers “not to give in to international and liberal pressure” trying to influence education.

Photo: jobbik.hu/444

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters