"Every day the president throws out a new unhappy idea with no coherence," said philosopher Pascal Bruckner. "But this last one is truly obscene, the very opposite of spirituality."

Sarkozy announced the new curriculum Wednesday during a speech to France's Jewish community saying every French child should be "entrusted with the memory of a French child-victim of the Holocaust."

The Holocaust already is taught in French schools, but Sarkozy's plan would require each child to learn about a specific victim their own age who died during the Nazis' extermination of Jews during World War II, the New York Times (NYSE:NYT) reported Saturday.

Critics warn the focus on victims could traumatize the fifth graders while diverting attention from the Vichy government's collaboration with the Nazis during World War II.