Raising Asian awareness of the Holocaust

HONG KONG — Natalie Leung, a 16-year-old student in Hong Kong, first learned about the Holocaust about four years ago, when she read Anne Frank’s “The Diary of a Young Girl.” The book opened her eyes to one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century in which six million Jews died at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators.

The Holocaust, however, is not a topic that students at local Chinese schools are likely to encounter in class. “We learned about Chinese history, but not much about world history,” said Ms. Leung, who has since switched from a Chinese school to an international one.

A Hong Kong-based nonprofit organization is trying to offer what is lacking. In 2011, a group of largely Jewish residents founded the Hong Kong Holocaust and Tolerance Center to raise awareness and promote education about the Holocaust, both locally and, eventually, more widely. The center has organized activities in about two dozen schools, including screening of films and talks by Holocaust survivors....