Today, the Tour for Humanity was at a high school in Scarborough for 6 Canadian Experience workshops. The school was very diverse   Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) hadn’t been to the school since 2015, so it was good to connect with the current teaching and administration staff who were very happy to have the program there. FSWC Educator Elena was able to see all of the school’s Grade 10 students throughout the day.  

As is often the case, Elena had a lot of material to cover in a short amount of time but the students were very receptive and attentive. Elena made sure to contextualize antisemitism in the early 20th century in the territories east of Germany and the escalation of events within Germany during the 1930s. Although students were hesitant to contribute their own ideas, there were some students who put their shyness aside. In the second group of the day, one young man wanted to know why there were people who identified as Nazis in Canada in the 1920s-30s when Canada eventually fought against Germany. Elena pointed out that there can be many groups and individuals who go against the image that we collectively share of Canada as a place of tolerance and multiculturalism and in fact, until very recently racism was openly expressed even at the government level in Canada. Elena mentioned some of the antisemitism on display in Canada, from signs that barred Jews (or dogs) from using parks, the Christie Pits Riot, and the rejection of Jewish refugees on the SS St Louis. Elena also addressed other trends  of intolerance in Canadian history, including the Chinese head tax and treatment of Japanese Canadians during World War II. Students were shocked to see some of the images of signs in British Columbia during the war against Japanese Canadians. 

Another subject that was raised a couple of times throughout the day was the old question around Hitler’s alleged suicide at the end of the war. One young woman was particularly skeptical that Hitler had killed himself, pointing out that there was no physical evidence of his body to prove his death. Elena listened respectfully to the student but also shared the perspective that there is absolutely no evidence that he survived either. Elena gave a bit of context around the activities of leading Nazis at the end of the war but quickly moved on to talking about Simon Wiesenthal and the fact that he was responsible for capturing and bringing to trial many of the Nazis who escaped Germany. Elena pointed out that Wiesenthal and other figures involved with pursuing justice after the Holocaust did not believe that Hitler was alive, even while they were working in countries like Argentina and Brazil where those who believe Hitler did survive say he was located. Elena finished this discussion by pointing out that there are a lot of conspiracy theories and misinformation out there about World War II and the Holocaust and as a result, Elena encouraged anyone who wanted to learn more to make sure they are reading (not watching) information carefully and comparing different sources on topics like Hitler’s suicide.