COLUMBUS, Ohio - State Senator Michael Rulli has introduced legislation that would create the Holocaust and Genocide Memorial and Education Commission in Ohio.

The purpose of Senate Bill 372 is to help cultivate knowledge and understanding of what Rulli says is one of the most tragic occurrences in the world's history.

The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its allies and collaborators, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

 Rulli says he drafted the bill after reading a study that ranked Ohio 32nd in Holocaust knowledge among millennials and the GenZ generations.

"Given the heightened tensions in our nation, I believe now more than ever we need to help educate the next generations about how horrors like the Holocaust can be perpetrated by even the most civilized and sophisticated people," said Rulli.

The commission will be comprised of two appointed members from the majority and minority parties from both the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives, eight appointed members by the Governor, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Chancellor of Higher Education, and the Director of Veterans Services.

"We know that simply pledging to never forget is not enough as sadly, genocide continues to this day," said Sen. Rulli. "My hope is that Ohio's youth will become enlightened as a result of this legislation to avoid such atrocities from ever happening again."

"The lack of Holocaust knowledge today is glaring. Not only are neo-Nazi groups increasingly active, but recent research confirms that basic facts about the Holocaust are unknown by far too many while others are misappropriating lessons of the Holocaust," said Howie Beigelman, Executive Director, Ohio Jewish Communities.

Beigelman says the bill will help leverage Ohio's schools, teachers, and community resources to teach the history of the Holocaust.