November 9, 2021

Over the past two weeks, the Education Department at Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) has been busy with:

7 Holocaust survivor presenters
15 school boards reached
34 programs presented
1,800+ students reached

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Professional Development
Melissa Mikel, FSWC's Director of Education, taught the first in-person program of the year to a Faculty of Education class at York University in Toronto. Melissa began by introducing the legacy of Simon Wiesenthal and the work of FSWC followed by the Equity Essentials program. It presented these pre-service teachers a framework for integrating equity education into their future classrooms. Among the feedback shared after the program, one participant said, "It was a super interesting and timely presentation that engaged my students from start to finish."

FSWC has also partnered with the Ontario Teachers' Federation to present a three-part series on equity and diversity education. The first program, Equity Essentials, was presented last week, with the second - a Virtual Tour of Auschwitz - to be presented this week while the third, Combating Online Hate in Schools with Emily Thompson, Associate Director of Research from the Museum of Tolerance, will be shared in December.

Holocaust Survivors Speaking Across Canada
Over the past two weeks, students in Canada have had the privilege and powerful experience of listening to Holocaust survivor testimony. Survivors have shared their harrowing stories of survival with students, providing students with a window into the excruciating reality they lived through in their youth under the Nazis. While many survivors often speak to individual classes, some schools take advantage of the virtual space to invite multiple classrooms to participate. Last week, in one session alone, Holocaust survivor Max Eisen spoke to approximately 800 students in the York Region District School Board, just north of Toronto.  

In Conversation with a Survivor Speaker Series
You don't want to miss this unique testimony featuring Sixties Scoop survivor Bill Groat in conversation with his son Cody. The Sixties Scoop refers to the large-scale removal of Indigenous children from their homes, families and communities in the 1960s for placement in foster homes before being adopted by white families.

To watch the recording, please click on the video above.

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