(The Center Square) – A new Holocaust education center in downtown Phoenix is expected to open in early 2027.
Seven million to partially fund the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center were allocated through the state government’s appropriations bill earlier this summer. It was distributed to the Arizona Jewish Historical Society through the Arizona Department of Education.
“All of my extended family were killed in the Holocaust,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said at a news conference presenting a check to the society on Tuesday, noting that his parents fled Poland prior to the Holocaust because his father noticed an increased in anti-Semitic sentiment.
The legislative effort was backed by Reps. Alma Hernandez, D-Tucson, and David Marshall, R-Snowflake, and it meant to serve as a supplement to the Holocaust education bill signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs this session, House Bill 2779.
The bill requires a minimum of three class periods to be dedicated to learning about the “Holocaust and other genocides” twice throughout middle school and high school.