Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) was pleased to conduct two successful meetings today with two separate Ontario school boards. In the morning, FSWC Member Ilene 

Golvin joined FSWC Director of Education Melissa Mikel in a meeting with Harjit Aujla, member of the Curriculum & Instruction team at the Peel District School Board (PDSB). Mr. Aujla is also a lead member of the Equity team with his board. The meeting was a great opportunity to discuss the importance of Holocaust education with youth in schools, along with introducing Simon Wiesenthal and his contributions to human rights education today. While PDSB has worked with FSWC through several education initiatives including the tolerance education workshops and the award-winning Tour for Humanity, an introduction to the entire FSWC education department is a key means of building and growing the relationship. The second meeting was with Halton Catholic District School Board (HCDSB) Director of Education Paula Dawson. HCDSB has been actively involved in a number of Holocaust education initiatives, including leading the membership of FSWC's January 27th Initiative, recognizing International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The meeting was an opportunity to thank Ms. Dawson for her exemplary leadership in the field of Holocaust education. Ms. Dawson expressed her interest in a continued relationship with FSWC and the educational programming that so strongly supports the work of the educators in the HCDSB.

FSWC hosted 55 Grades 10 and 11 students from a Brampton high school in our Tom & Anna Koffler Tolerance Training Centre at FSWC for a workshop on the Roots of Racism and Intolerance. FSWC Educator Elena was impressed with the attention the school took with their education program around Holocaust literature. All of the students had read Night by Elie Wiesel and it was evident that this was an incredibly powerful window into the Holocaust for many of these students, many of whom who had very little direct experience with Jewish people (although very diverse, there were no Jewish students in the class). When Elena asked them for their impressions of the book, students used words including "scary, depressing, and powerful." One young man said he had been troubled by something since he read the book. He couldn't get the image of babies being thrown into a fire pit (a scene Wiesel describes upon his arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau) out of his mind and he wanted to know if that was something that really happened. Elena told him that sadly, this and countless other atrocities were committed against Jewish children during this time.  Below is a photo of the screen that greeted the students as they entered the FSWC classroom. 

Elena was also pleased that the students had read another book that conveys the existence of antisemitism at an earlier point in European history. They had read The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare and were consequently familiar with Shylock as a character, which was a great introduction to some of the older antisemitic stereotypes we see at different points in history. This knowledge allowed Elena to talk about the expulsion of Jews from Western Europe and different pogroms led against Jewish citizens in times of crises like the Black Plague. Elena was happy to see that the school sees the value in connecting the Holocaust with other moments of discrimination against Jewish communities in Europe.Before the group left for the day, their teacher let Elena know that the students were pooling their own money together because they wanted to give a donation to FSWC (to be given when they bring the last group of students towards the end of the year). Elena thought this was very touching!

Tour for Humanityspent the day at an elementary school in Brampton, where Friendsof Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Daniella presented workshops to allGrades 5 to 8 students in the school. Grades 5 and 6 students participated in theSimon's Story workshop – a program aimedat junior audiences, that introduces students to the Holocaust in anage-appropriate manner. Students learn techniques to deal with injustice andideas for creating positive change. Stereotypes, racism and prejudice aredefined and discussed in an age-appropriate manner.   The Grades7 and 8 students took part in the CanadianExperience – a program that addresses a variety of difficult topics inCanadian history including slavery, the Indian Residential Schools System, thevoyage of the SS St. Louis and the systemic internment of Japanese Canadiansduring the Second World War. Following a review of the past, current issuesincluding cyber bullying and modern-day examples of intolerance are examinedand discussed.

The Grade 7 class wasparticularly memorable because their classroom teacher had done a lotof preparation work with the class. This led to Daniella being able to havereal conversations with the students about the material. The students werequite well versed in both the Holocaust and Canadian history, but they foundthe current hate crime statistics particularly horrifying. They could notbelieve that someone as young as 12 (their age) could commit such a crime andseemed even more shocked to know that hate crimes still existed today. Daniellatold the class that this was exactly why it was so important for them tounderstand the past and stop it from being repeated. The class was also able tooffer plenty of suggestions of things they could do in order to make a positiveimpact on their school and community.