Tour for Humanity finished off the week today at a public school in Richmond Hill. The organizing teacher reached out to us after hearing about the bus from other teacher colleagues who had brought the bus to their schools. Over the course of the 6 workshops, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Daniella saw the school's entire Grades 6-8 students, all of whom participated in the Canadian Experience workshop. The school has put a great deal of effort into recognizing diverse populations, which was immediately noticeable by walking through the front door where “welcome” is listed in a variety of languages represented by the community (more than 15 languages). 

Being intermediate students, the groups all had a lot to say and a lot of questions to ask. One of the Grade 6 classes stood out, particularly because of their questions about the Holocaust. A group of boys was very knowledgeable about the topic, and continually shared the information they knew including: Hitler’s previous art school ambitions, how Oscar Schindler was able to save the Jewish people in his factory and how the Jewish people were forced to identify themselves by wearing the yellow star.  

Another common line of questioning among students in all 6 workshops was whether the passengers on the SS St. Louis tried to escape by jumping off the ship and swimming to shore in Canada or Cuba. Daniella tried to paint a picture of what life was like for Jewish refugees coming to other countries during the Holocaust. She explained to the groups that aside from likely drowning, even if the passengers had made it to shore, they would likely have been arrested and deported back to Germany anyway. Daniella could see how it was difficult for the students to process this information, so she went on to explain to them that it wasn’t the same type of Canada they were used to today.