title: NY Teacher Gives Assignment To High School Kids: Come Up With Argument In Favor Of Mass Killings Of Jews
text: A pair of high school students who take classes at SUNY Oswego via a specialized program are upset at an assignment their  Principles of Literary Representation  class received: Defend Hitler s Final Solution.CiTi/BOCES New Vision program teacher Michael DeNobile handed out a  Top Secret memorandum  to the class  addressed to senior Nazi party members.  It asked students  to put themselves in the shoes of Adolf Hitler s top aides,  according to a report at Syracuse.com.Students Archer Shurtliff and Jordan April, who ended up on opposite sides of the, er,  debate  wondered: Does DeNobile really want students to argue in favor of  the Nazis  justification for genocide? Although the lesson does tell students it is  not for you to be sympathetic to the Nazi point of view,  and is just  an exercise on expanding your point of view,  Shurtliff and April allege it created a rather intolerant atmosphere.One student did a Nazi salute in class, they say, and another said he wished he d been assigned the pro-Holocaust side  because Heil Hitler, duh. From the story:The students brought their concerns over the assignment to DeNobile, administrators in the New Vision program and educators at their home schools.The classroom assignment took them on a mission: To make sure no other student would be asked to argue in favor of killing Jews again.They carefully documented each meeting and conversation with their teachers. They researched other cases, including one in which a teacher was disciplined.They came up with dozens of alternate assignments and materials that didn t force kids to argue on behalf of mass killings. They contacted the Anti-Defamation League, which advocates for Jews.Within a few days, an alternative assignment was offered. Jordan wrote about America s AIDS crisis and response. Archer wrote about the internment of Japanese-Americans and compensation paid to survivors.The students said they weren t satisfied with the administration s response.They are calling for an apology, for the program to retract the assignment completely, and agree to never give it again.Despite the alternative assignment offered, many chose to stick with the original.Archer and Jordan say DeNobile and administrators defended the assignment, claiming they were told  the essay was a lesson in having to do things you don t like, and in seeing the other side of an argument. But Shurtliff shoots down this rationalization rather easily:  It s settled opinion. You can t say that Jews deserve to die. It should be a settled thing. In a letter to New Vision officials, Anti-Defamation League Education Director Beth Martinez wroteThere is no assignment that could ever be given to students that even hints at their [sic] being  two sides  to the  Final Solution /Holocaust that would be pedagogically or morally sound, and we are very disturbed that students are reportedly being asked to be a part of this.Indeed, the assignment says the objective is for students to go  outside [their] comfort zone  and to train their brains  to logistically find the evidence necessary to prove a point. High schoolers   vouching for the annihilation of an entire people is   merely going  outside their comfort zone ? Lovely.For entire story: College Fix