Toronto (November 12, 2021) – Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) welcomes the Alberta Ministry of Education’s decision to pull a problematic document, which minimized the actions of the Nazi regime, from the provincial government website and "Alberta Education publications." The decision came after FSWC representatives spoke with and expressed concerns to senior staff in the office of Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange.

As reported by FSWC earlier today, the province’s Guidelines for Recognizing Diversity and Promoting Respect advised that educators should include in their resources both “positive and negative behaviours and attitudes of the various groups portrayed” and have students “suggest ways in which members of these groups can collaborate or could have cooperated to bring about positive interaction and understanding of one another.”

Using the Nazis as an example, the document stated, “if a video details war atrocities committed by the Nazis, does it also point out that before World War II, German government’s policies substantially strengthened the country’s economy?”

“We are pleased that the Ministry of Education responded quickly to this outrageous situation by removing the document in question, and we thank Minister Adriana LaGrange for engaging in conversation with Jewish organizations and denouncing this very troubling material,” said Michael Levitt, president and CEO of FSWC. “In addition to having the document removed, we urge the Minister to call for a review of how this material made it online and also to ensure that no other disturbing documents are on the Alberta government website."