Friends of Simon Wiesenthal for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) was pleased to be invited to speak at the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) Equity Conference today. The invitation was a result of a meeting with the school board several months ago. There were one hundred teachers in attendance, all Equity leaders in their schools who are responsible for returning to their respective schools and sharing what they've learned. Teachers who attended FSWC's Equity Essentials workshop learned about Simon Wiesenthal and his experience both pre-war, during the Holocaust and as a Nazi hunter in post-war Europe. Participants learned about FSWC education programming and took part in a series of activities that illustrated ways to integrate equity education in their classrooms. One of the teachers left the workshop full of enthusiasm to return to her classroom; she stated that she felt so inspired and was ready to go back and integrate some of the activities into her own classroom immediately!

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies' (FSWC) classroom was busy today as we hosted 45 lively and inquisitive students from a local public school for a Lessons and Legacies of the Holocaust workshop. FSWC was approached by the teacher a few weeks ago because some swastikas had been found drawn on desks in the intermediate classrooms.

 We spent the morning discussing the Holocaust and the Nazi rise to power with the Grade 7 students. They had a lot of questions, beginning with what the swastika was and why Hitler chose that to be the symbol of the Nazi party. FSWC Educator Daniella made sure to explain the historical significance of the symbol, and also how the Nazis changed its meaning and what it means to the world today. Knowing that some of these students may have been the ones that drew the swastika, Daniella spent quite a bit of time making sure the classes understood why it was not okay to draw this symbol today. Students also asked about certain conspiracy theories that they had read or come across, so Daniella helped dispel them all – including whether Hitler had any Jewish relatives. Even on the way down to lunch the students peppered Daniella with additional questions because they were so interested in the topic. One young girl wanted to know why the Nuremberg laws were put into place if the goal was to kill everyone anyway, so Daniella explained a little about the Nazi deception. 

After lunch the class sat attentively and listened to Holocaust survivor Andy Reti tell his story. Daniella noticed a few girls in the front row trying to wipe away tears. After he finished speaking a group of boys practically ran up to Andy and wanted to shake his hand. All of the students thanked Andy for coming. 

The Tour for Humanity visiteda high school in Toronto's Catholic DistrictSchool Board today.FSWC Educator Elena taught 5 workshops on the Canadian Experience to Grades 10 and 11students. In the Canadian Experience program, students learn about a variety of difficult topicsin Canadian history including slavery, the Indian Residential Schools System,the voyage of the SS St. Louis and the systemic internment of JapaneseCanadians during the Second World War. Following a review of the past, currentissues including cyber bullying and modern-day examples of intolerance areexamined and discussed. Below, the photo shows you the screen that greetedstudents as they entered the Tour for Humanity for their presentation. 

It was a very good day with lots of positive feedback and curiousstaff members coming by throughout the day to get more information about FSWCprogramming.  Students were also veryengaged. One student brought up the question of Hitler's life before hispolitical career - the chance or “what if” he had chosen a different path. These"what ifs" come up fairly often and Elena tries to emphasize that wecan speculate on what could have been but ultimately this is just historicalfantasy and not relevant to discussions of the Nazis' crimes.