NSW Board of Jewish Deputies CEO Darren Bark calls for statewide Holocaust education

One of NSW’s most prominent Jewish leaders wants Premier Dominic Perrottet to make good on his promise to turn his Nazi uniform gaffe into positive action.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet pictured outside the Sydney Jewish Museum last week. Picture: John Appleyard

One of the state’s top Jewish leaders has called on Dominic Perrottet to make Holocaust education part of the school curriculum in the wake of the premier’s Nazi uniform revelations last Thursday.

NSW Board of Jewish Deputies CEO Darren Bark said he wants to see Holocaust and religious bullying education taught statewide in a move he said could bring about positive social change.

Religious bullying education is currently taught in several Sydney schools in areas with large Jewish populations.

Mr Bark believes the NSW premier should now be the one to roll it out across the state.

“There needs to be more done and there’s a number of layers to this, but at a student level there has to be greater education,” Mr Bark said.

Premier Dominic Perrottet met Jewish leaders outside the Sydney Jewish Museum last week. Picture: John Appleyard

“What is important is to look at what has worked in the past and what is working now. And for those that participate in these programs … they have better outcomes for their students, they have better outcomes for their teachers, and they have better outcomes for their school.”

The NSW premier apologised to the Jewish community and met with Mr Bark after holding an emotional press conference where he revealed he wore a Nazi uniform at his 21st birthday party almost 20 years ago.

The shock admission has raised pressure on the Premier to address a rise in anti-Semitism in schools across the state.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Darren Bark wants to see programs set to begin at eastern suburbs schools rolled out across the state

The NSW Board of Jewish Deputies intervened last September after a raft of reports of antisemitic bullying across Sydney high schools – including elite all-boys school Cranbrook, public high school Rose Bay Secondary College and prestigious North Sydney school Knox Grammar.

A board spokesman claimed that “at the board’s insistence” several eastern suburbs high schools signed on to participate in its ‘Respect, Understanding and Acceptance’ program in the aftermath of the damaging reports.

The program focuses on building respect between people of different religious and ethnic backgrounds, and involves visits to cultural education centres including the Sydney Jewish Museum.

The NSW Department of Education confirmed a mandatory visit to the Sydney Jewish Museum would be integrated into the history curriculum for Years 10 to 12 at Rose Bay Secondary College to deliver “supported and contextual discussions with students”.

A screenshot taken from a video sourced from a parent at Cranbrook High School showing a boy performing the the sieg heil (Nazi salute) and believed to be taken on June 3 2022. Image: supplied

Image: supplied

Cranbrook school, which was forced to launch an internal review after footage surfaced of a student smiling and giving a Sieg Heil to the camera, said it had built an improved and centralised incident behaviour register and strengthened its alliances with organisations including the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.

Mr Bark said the organisation had been “inundated” with reports of anti-Semitic bullying in NSW schools since they launched an online reporting portal in response to the reports.

Mr Perrottet last week addressed the NSW Jewish community directly in an open letter seen by The Saturday Telegraphand promised he would use the controversy as an opportunity to improve discrimination education.

“I have sought the advice of the leadership of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies to assist me in making sure we can use my mistakes and lessons I have learnt to do more and do better when it comes to Holocaust education,” he said.

Liberal candidate Kellie Sloane is running to replace Gabrielle Upton in the seat of Vaucluse. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Liberal candidate for Vaucluse Kellie Sloane joined senior figures including deputy Liberal leader Matt Kean in voicing her support for the beleaguered NSW leader.

The Jewish Board of Deputies and other organisations has shown “great leadership” but must be given more support, she said.

“While the revelations have been concerning and painful for many, there is also a strong resolve by people I’ve spoken with to ensure some good can come from this.”

The Department of Education has been contacted for further comment but did not respond at the time of publication.