Today the Tour for Humanity spent its first day of our week in Owen Sound! Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Elena was at a Catholic school working with Grades 6-8 students.  It was clear that all of the students took the subject matter of the day very seriously as they asked lots of thoughtful questions. One group in particular asked tons of questions. One student brought up the question of whether Hitler was really dead, and Elena gave them a brief rundown of his life at the end of the war. The same student later asked the same question about Simon Wiesenthal, asking me if Elena knew he was dead for sure. Elena wasn't quite sure how to answer that one but she explained that he had a good, long life and died in his late 90s. Another student from the same class wanted to know if there were any countries that were "safe" for Jews during the war and so Elena explained that most Jewish people lived outside of Germany and so many thought they would be safe from the Nazis. This belief was destroyed when Hitler began invading countries in 1938 and ultimately very few countries were "safe" during the war because they were occupied or controlled by the Nazis. England, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal, and Spain and few others were places where Jews were safe from deportation. 

Tour for Humanity also had a visit first thing this morning from MP Larry Miller. It was a pleasure to have him visit and he was very complimentary about the program. He spoke briefly to the students and told a touching story about his personal experience with visiting Israel. He said that he was somewhat indifferent about Israel before visiting, but going there made him appreciate the beauty and necessity of a Jewish homeland.