Tennessee school board defends banning 'Maus,' insists graphic novel on Holocaust contains 'unnecessary use of profanity and nudity'

• "Maus" is a graphic novel about the Holocaust by author Art Spiegelman.
• It depicts Jews as mice and Nazis as cats.

The Tennessee school board that voted unanimously this month to ban eighth-graders from reading a graphic novel about the Holocaust defended its decision on Thursday, saying the work was unsuitable for young adults due to its use of profanity and depictions of nude mice.

On January 10, the McMinn County Board of Education elected to prohibit "Maus" from being included in its curriculum.

"It shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids," board member Tony Allman said, according to minutes from the meeting. Fellow board member Mike Cochran said author Art Spiegelman's graphic depiction of the Holocaust was "completely unnecessary."

The decision prompted a wave of national media coverage, with critics decrying the censorship as a blow to free expression and historical literacy — coming just before International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

—McMinnCountySchools (@McMinnCountySch) January 27, 2022

In Thursday's statement, the school board insisted that it did not intend to "diminish the value of Maus as an impactful and meaningful piece of literature, nor do we dispute the importance of teaching our children the historical and moral lessons and realities of the Holocaust." However, "We simply do not believe that this work is an appropriate text for our students to study," it said, citing its "unnecessary use of profanity and nudity and its depiction of violence and suicide."

The graphic novel portrays Jewish victims of the Holocaust as mice, some of whom are shown not wearing clothes while in concentration camps, with Nazis depicted as cats. It is based on the account of Spiegelman's father, a Holocaust survivor.

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