Today was a beautiful day in Orillia with the Tour for Humanity and Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is so thankful to have had the support of many officers from the OPP Headquarters throughout the day, including several officers from the OPP Hate Crimes unit (the OPP coordinated the Tour for Humanity visits today and tomorrow). We spent the day parked outside the Foodland Grocery store and the students came to us!

Today marked an important day in world history as 75 years ago today, Anne Frank received her famous diary for her 13th birthday. FSWC Educator Elena made a point of including this in her presentation today. The Diary was published 70 years ago, shortly after the Holocaust in 1947. What a privilege to have her voice to share with students - her story resonates incredibly with students even 75 years later. 

The first two groups of the day were from an Orillia public school; Grades 5-6 students participated in Simon's Story. A second public school sent two groups of students: one for a Simon's Story workshop and another for a Canadian Experience workshop. The students were in the early stages of learning about the Holocaust, but most were still well-aware of the Nazis and their violence during World War II. One question that came up repeatedly was, "Why did Hitler have so much hatred for Jews" and "why did people go along with the hate promoted by the Nazis?" FSWC Educator Elena always feels that it is difficult to give a satisfying answer to these questions as the answer is so complex and multi-layered. However, Elena brought it to the level of the students by talking about antisemitism as a force in European history and explained to the students the unique role that many Jewish communities played in a time when there were very few other minorities in most European states. Elena also emphasized that not all Germans needed to have a deep violent hatred of Jewish people to support the Nazis, they just needed to care more about what benefits they might gain from the Nazis than the violence suffered by Jewish neighbours. Elena also talked a little bit about Hitler as a person to contextualize his personal paranoia and hateful outlook on the world. Elena highlighted the concept of 'bystanders' and its relevance to conversations around both the Holocaust and things like bullying. 

As always, the Simon's Story workshop is an excellent introduction to the Holocaust for younger students given the action he took in his post-war career as a Nazi Hunter. Elena talked about the difference between revenge and justice and she felt students really connected with Mr. Wiesenthal's story. Each school was very happy to receive a copy of Max Eisen's book, By Chance Alone, and many kids said they planned on reading The Diary of Anne Frank.