The Tour for Humanity wrapped up this week with a second day at a public school, presenting 6 Simon’s Story workshops to the Grade 6 classes. It was evident that the material was meaningful and creating positive change immediately in the school. This was evidenced by the fact that students today were sharing that their peers had talked about workshops from yesterday and they were already talking a about what they could do as a community. 

One class in particular really impressed Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Daniella with their knowledge. In preparation for our visit, the class read Hana's Suitcase and discussed basic background information about the Nazi rise to power and the Holocaust. Their teacher was originally from Romania, so he added an extra layer of complexity to the information, describing the treatment of the Jewish people and the Roma in Hungary. Due to the preparation work, the students were able to ask questions about a topic they were interested in, including how Hitler and the Nazis were able to “convince” the general population of other countries to join them in targeting people. Daniella explained that it wasn’t so much “convincing” as it was that many governments like Hungary for example, allied themselves with Hitler and therefore undertook the targeting themselves. Other countries, like Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands were essentially taken over and immediately fell under the same rules. Daniella went on to explain that every Jewish person in those countries also fell under the same persecution and violence as in Germany. 

At the end of the day Daniella has the opportunity to speak with the principal enthusiastically spoke about the Tour for Humanity experience and how life-changing it was for the students, but also for the school community as a whole. Daniella presented the principal with a copy of Max Eisen’s book, By Chance Alone. The principal is already discussing dates with her team to bring the bus back for a few days next year.