A California school district is revising one of its assignments after receiving backlash for an essay that asked students to question if the Holocaust really happened.
Rialto Unified School District, near Los Angeles, issued an essay asking 8th-graders to argue whether the Holocaust really happened or if it was "merely a political scheme created to influence public emotion and gain," read the essay question, accordgin to KTLA-TV.
Death threats were made against several school officials, including an interim superintendent and a district spokesperson, once the assignment was made public. Guards were posted outside the school district's headquarters on Monday.
"We do not know who the suspect is at this time," Rialto Police Captain Randy De Anda told CBS Los Angeles. "However we do have some leads to follow up on."
The district released a statement Monday announcing it will revive the assignment.
Interim Superintendent Mohammad Z. Islam, will talk to school officials to "assure that any references to the holocaust 'not occurring' will be stricken on any current or future Argumentative Research assignments," read a statement from district spokeswoman Syeda Jafri obtained by KTLA-TV.
"The holocaust should be taught in classrooms with sensitivity and profound consideration to the victims who endured the atrocities committed," the statement read.
The English essay was part of an 18-page assignment that asked students to use three sources to support their argument. The question was supposed to "exercise the use of critical thinking skills" and was not meant to be insulting, the school district said, Reuters reported.
Public arguments against the Holocaust- where nearly six million Jews were killed during World War II- are rare.
"This assignment mistakenly provides moral equivalency between history and bigotry," Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Reuters.
In 2007, the United Nations passed a resolution condemning any claim the Holocaust did not happen.
