French teacher suspended for teaching 'too much' Shoah
Catherine Pederzoli-Ventura files appeal against decision, maintains "the only crime I have committed is being Jewish."
By JPOST.COM STAFF
A high school history teacher in the French city of Nancy has been suspended for "teaching too much," about the Holocaust, French daily le Figaro reported Wednesday.In the official suspension notice, the Metz–Nancy Academy stated that the teacher, Catherine Pederzoli-Ventura, had "brainwashed" her students, and that her classes lacked objectivity. The report also noted that the teacher had used the word "Holocaust" seven times more than the supposedly more "neutral word," massacre.RELATED:France: Anti-Semitic attacks on the riseAustralian school apologizes over Hitler costumePederzoli-Venturahas, a 58-year-old practicing Jew, has filed an appeal to overturn the decision. "The only crime I have committed is being Jewish", she said in the petition.AFP reported that the court had 15 days to rule on the appeal.The teacher's lawyer, Christine Tadic, added that the teacher had been subjected to a "well-orchestrated persecution campaign," which has started three years ago. "In 2007 a new administration took over the school and they teamed up against her", Tadic said. "They want to get rid of her."