Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) Educator Elena taught a workshop to Grade 10 students from a Brampton high school today - a school that has brought students to our workshops each and every year since 2009! They asked that we provide a fusion of two of our workshops- Lessons and Legacies of the Holocaust and Roots of Hate and Intolerance in Canada. The 47 students attending the workshop are just  gearing up to read Night by Elie Wiesel so this was an opportunity for all of them to learn some context before reading, and to hear directly from one of FSWC's incredible Survivor speakers. 

The students were interested in all of the material relating to the Holocaust as well as the history of antisemitism leading into the Holocaust with the emergence of scientific racism (eugenics, phrenology, public health campaigns). At the school’s request we spent more time looking into the treatment of Aboriginal Canadians through the residential schools  and other legislation that sought to “civilize” Indigenous Canadians. Elena told them about some of the recent action taken by the government to bring justice and reconciliation to this troubling legacy which naturally led into talking about hate crimes in Canada today and some of the issues of tolerance that face Canada in an age when we will continue to see an influx of people from across the world seeking peace, safety, and economic opportunity. 

Holocaust Survivor Vera Schiff joined us after lunch to provide her testimony. The students, most of whom seemed very shy and quiet during the first half of the workshop, really opened up when asking Vera questions. Elena thought there were some very insightful questions asked. One young woman wanted to know how Vera was able to pick up the pieces and move one with life after the war, asking if she ever struggled with depression. Vera explained that while many survivors probably did struggle with depression and various mental health problems, it wasn’t something that people talked about openly back then and most survivors simply sought to build a normal and happy life for themselves. Vera said that it was extremely difficult and that she was devastated when she found that none of her relatives had survived the Holocaust; but Vera also had found Arthur Schiff, the man she would soon marry, in Theresienstadt and they wanted to move forward, not dwell on what they had lost.

The Tour for Humanity was also on the road today, spending the day at Halton Regional Police Headquarters in Oakville. FSWC Educator Daniella had a great day of workshops with police, civilians and two youth groups. Police Chief Tanner, an alumni of the Compassion to Action program and friend of FSWC, stopped by briefly to lend his support as well. 

Constable Elms organized the visit for Halton Police’s PEACE program - a youth program for teens aged 15-17 to learn about peacekeeping, ethnicities and cultures. These youth took part in the Global Perspectives program. The two civilian/police groups were also engaged in the presentations, discussing the material with focus and depth. A consistent question was about identification - participants wanted to know how the Nazis were able to identify Jewish people. Daniella explained about lists that were drawn up and collected from communities along with the implementation of identification cards. Another common point was the role of police in Nazi Germany, which led to a discussion of policing versus peacekeeping.The youth groups asked a lot of questions both during and after the workshops. One girl mentioned on her way off of the Tour for Humanity that she had been studying the Rwandan genocide in her World Issues class at school and how it opened her eyes because she had no idea. Many of the students commented on how they had previously studied the Holocaust in school but the material covered in the Tour for Humanity program introduced new topics and ideas of which they were unfamiliar, such as the Nuremberg Race Chart.