Fla. cancels contract with French railroad

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Florida has canceled a partnership with the U.S. subsidiary of the French National Railroad to provide education on the Holocaust in France.

Holocaust survivors said SNCF America's agreement to provide $80,000 for the education program was an attempt to cover up its parent's role in transporting Jews from France to extermination camps, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.

Rosette Goldstein, 73, of Boca Raton told the newspaper her father was killed in a camp after being forced to board an SNCF train.

"They want to whitewash history. I just don't feel this is a company that should teach about the Holocaust in our Florida schools," Goldstein said. "Until SNCF comes out and apologizes and pays reparations for what they did, I think they should not be allowed to do any work here in the U.S."

The company says it is owned by the French government, which has paid reparations. SNCF spokesman Jerry Ray said the company had agreed to pay for a curriculum being designed by the Shoah Memorial, a Holocaust museum and study center in Paris.