Holocaust education to be made mandatory in Sask.

High school students in Saskatchewan will now be required to learn about the Holocaust as a result of graduation requirement changes in the province.

Social Studies 10 will include a compulsory section on the Holocaust beginning in the 2025-2026 school year.

"Antisemitism, unfortunately, is a prejudice that remains a problem in Canada," Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said in a news release.

"Knowledge of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust is important for our youth as it helps reduce hate and discrimination in society."

The Holocaust is used to describe the state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million European Jews from 1933 to 1945 by Nazi Germany, its allies and collaborators.

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Systematic discrimination and exclusion against the Jewish community in Germany began with the Nazi's rise to power in 1933 and culminated with “The Final Solution to the Jewish Question” at the Wansee Conference in 1942.

Concentration camps were established – the vast majority of which were located in occupied Poland.

In addition to the six million – the Holocaust was responsible for the deaths of five million prisoners of war, Romany, Slavs, Jehovah’s Witnesses and others.

The province says the renewed curriculum is expected to be introduced to high school students in two years.

The renewal and implementation process is set to involve teachers and other content experts – while the Ministry of Education will work with Saskatchewan’s Jewish community for their input on the changes.

The addition of education on the Holocaust has been announced in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.