Today the Tour for Humanity was in a small community south-east of Windsor at a Catholic Elementary School where Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Elena taught 6 workshops: 3 Simon's Story to the Grades 5 and 6 students and 3 presentations on the Canadian Experience for Grades 7 and 8 students. Simon’s Story is aimed at junior audiences with the goal of introducing elementary school students to the Holocaust in an age-appropriate manner. Students learn techniques to deal with injustice and ideas for creating positive change. Stereotypes, racism and prejudice are defined and discussed in an age-appropriate manner.  In the Canadian Experience workshop, a variety of difficult topics in Canadian history are explored including slavery, the Indian Residential Schools System, the voyage of the SS St. Louis and the systemic internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. Following a review of the past, current issues including cyber bullying and modern-day examples of intolerance are examined and discussed.  

As usual, the students were in awe when they saw the inside of the bus – which is always a positive note to start on. The kids themselves were also great participants in the workshops and asked lots of thoughtful questions.  The first half of the day was spent with the younger grades and the Simon's Story program. Many students had questions about the details of Simon's post-war life with his wife Cyla. One young girl wanted to know why Simon and Cyla couldn't be together in the concentration camps. Elena told them about the fact that men and women were always kept separate in these facilities to dehumanize and control people more easily. They also organized prisoners based on what kind of work they had to do and men and women were often doing different types of labour. One of the teachers who accompanied students asked Elena if Simon Wiesenthal was involved in capturing Eichmann and she told them yes, Simon played a role in his capture, and helped bring hundreds of war criminals to justice in the years following the Holocaust.

The Canadian Experience workshops in the afternoon were also well-received. There was very little knowledge about residential schools and Elena felt the students gained a lot from the discussion she led about them. There was also an interesting comment by one student who knew that a lot of slaves who came to Canada through the underground railroad settled in the Windsor area. Elena recommended a book called, "A North-Side View of Slavery", a fascinating collection of narratives from slaves who describe their flight to Canada and general feelings and opinions of their new Canadian homeland. Elena finished out the day with a great discussion about the Holocaust amongst Grade 8 students. One student had been to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington last summer with his family and he shared his memory of the trip with his classmates. He told them how disturbing it was to see hundreds of shoes filling a room from Jewish victims and Elena thought this helped some of his classmates understand this history on a deeper level. 

The classroom was also busy with a Lessons in Humanity program for law enforcement personnel. Members from the Cobourg, Halton, Kingston and York Regional forces were all in attendance, along with a special guest from Weyburn Police Service in Saskatchewan, Chief Marlo Pritchard - an alumni of the 2016 Compassion to Action program. The day of training included a morning session with a history lesson on the Holocaust and antisemitism with a specific focus on the role of law enforcement followed by testimony from survivor Max Eisen. Avi Benlolo, FSWC President & CEO opened the afternoon program by introducing the law enforcement participants to information about the current state of Israel and the new antisemitism including the BDS movement. All of this information was tied together by Chief Marlo Pritchard, who discussed the personal and professional impact all of this training has had on him. He shared his experiences travelling to sites of the Holocaust on Compassion to Action, including standing on the grounds of Auschwitz-Birkenau and trying to take in the enormity of both the space itself and the horrific violence that was held within the walls of this infamous camp. Chief Pritchard also discussed how he was taking this knowledge and applying to his professional career. "Marlo's presentation was fantastic," stated FSWC President & CEO Avi Benlolo. "He captured the essence of our educational mission and his interpretation of the Holocaust and what had occurred was spot on. It is rewarding for us an an organization."