Today, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center's (FSWC) Education Department hosted a Lessons and Legacies of the Holocaust workshop for students from a private K-12 day school. The school is quite popular among international students due to the school’s curriculum and IB program. Students in Grades 7 and 8, were a part of today's program.

The day started off with the group being very quiet and hesitant to ask questions, all of which changed when Holocaust survivor Susan Pasternak came in to speak to the group. They listened very attentively to her story and actively engaged with her. That seemed to break the flood gates because when the class returned from lunch they were very eager to share their thoughts and questions. When FSWC Educator Daniella discussed Simon Wiesenthal’s experiences during the war, one student wanted to know why the Nazis didn’t just give him a “useful” job instead of telling him to carry a boulder. Daniella explained that often prisoners were given “useful” tasks but there were more prisoners than jobs – yet the Nazis wanted to ensure that each prisoner was kept busy. In addition, giving prisoners jobs like carrying boulders was also an attempt to dehumanize them further as well as to break their body along with their spirit. Daniella spent a lot of time discussing different propaganda tactics that the Nazis used to manipulate people and had students analyse several posters from the era. Daniella asked the class to describe the images and to analyse the intended audience and message. She also discussed how vital propaganda was to the Nazis and their rise to power - it ensured they controlled their consistent messages of hatred and intolerance. 

At the end of the workshop Daniella showed the group the Simon Wiesenthal office exhibit which we are developing. The students found the exhibit to be “really cool” (their words).

The Tour for Humanity was also on the road in Bradford, north-west of Newmarket at Catholic elementary school. This was our first visit to the school and it made a great impression on staff and students alike. We worked with students that ranged from Grade 2 to Grade 8 providing an abridged version of Simon’s Story for the youngest groups, the regular Simon’s Story for the Grades 4 and 5 students and the Canadian Experience program for the Grades 6 to 8 students. The intermediate teachers were particularly enthusiastic, saying the program was the perfect complement to their curriculum on bullying and character building. 

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Elena spent little time on the details of the Holocaust with younger students but of course the older groups were very curious to learn more. Elena received quite a few questions about the Nazis' and Hitler’s leadership style. One student wanted to know if German soldiers “had” to fight for Hitler. Elena thought this was a very good question and tried to explain the difference between belonging to the Nazi party or signing on to be an SS officer vs. the fact that young German men were conscripted into the military and had very little choice about their involvement in Germany’s “total war” policy. 

Another student asked whether Hitler “had mental problems.” Elena said that this question is hard to answer because we view mental health differently than people did in Hitler’s time but she did say that Hitler wasn’t “crazy” in the sense that he was out of control or not aware of how his actions would be viewed by others as monstrous. Hitler was motivated by hateful paranoia and his own obsession with the fantasy of a German race of superhumans, but he was also very charismatic and a powerful speaker who knew how to manipulate public opinion. He may have “had mental problems”, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t conscious of the destruction he was causing or lies he was feeding to the German people.