Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) hosted 50 Grades 11-12 students from a local private school for our Global Perspectives on Genocide workshop. The school requested a special workshop that focused on three genocides in detail: the Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide associated with the violent Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979, and the Rwandan genocide of 1994. FSWC Educator Elena had a lot of information to cover but it turned out to be an amazing day of discussion and we had some very interesting contributions from both staff and students. The students had clearly done their homework and were able to place the events discussed into broader contexts of war, decolonization, and communism in each situation. 

Before delving into more recent events, Elena wanted to make sure that the group had both a good background understanding of the Holocaust and the lesser-known history of the emergence of genocide studies/human rights in the post-war era. The Holocaust and World War II as a whole played an integral role in shaping the understandings of ethnic-based violence, the welfare state, human rights, and on the emergence of the United Nations in 1948. Elena also talked about Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-Jewish lawyer who coined the word genocide and ensured that this concept was recognized by the newly-established UN. 

In order to help students gain a sense of the general progression of events during genocidal situations, Elena spent time talking about Gregory Staunton’s 10 stages of genocide. There were a number of critics of the 10 stages amongst the students, leading to a great conversation about what they thought should be included/excluded and how they might organize the framework differently. 

In the afternoon, students heard Holocaust survivor testimony provided by Vera Schiff. There were some very thoughtful questions from students at the end of Vera's presentation, including one student who wanted to know how Vera felt about German people today. Another student asked if Vera suffered from “PTSD” after the war. Students also wanted to know about Vera’s post-war life and career and were impressed that she wrote books and worked as a court room interpreter.