On Wednesday, Tour for Humanity and Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Daniella spent the day at Holy Names Catholic High School in Windsor, Ontario. There were 4 classes on the bus, all of which participated in the Global Perspectives workshop. This workshop begins with a screening of a three-part documentary series produced by FSWC entitled The Holocaust, Universal Genocide and Real World Heroes. The Ten Stages of Genocide are then discussed in relation to the Holocaust and other world genocides, including Rwanda, Cambodia and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine and throughout Eastern Europe under Joseph Stalin’s reign. 

The last class of the day was the most inquisitive.  It was a relatively small group of Grade 12 Religion & Social Justice students. The class was particularly interested in learning more about the Nuremberg Race Laws, so at the end of the workshop Daniella put the chart on the screen and they went over it as a group in more detail. One student wanted to know how the Nazis knew who had Jewish ancestry, so Daniella made sure to tell them about the precise Nazi record keeping and how this allowed them to justify the chart in the first place. 

Another student in this same class also wanted to know more about Holocaust denial and how it was even possible because it seemed so absurd. This allowed Daniella to give them concrete examples of Holocaust deniers like Ernst Zundel. Their teacher then also shared a personal story about how he went to school with a Holocaust denier and some things that this fellow student used to say. Daniella could see this really affect the class because all of a sudden, the material had a personal connection to their lives. 

FSWC Educator Elena was also busy in classroom as seh hosted 49 Grade 8 students from McKenzie-Smith Bennett Public School in our Tom & Anna Koffler Tolerance Training Centre in Toronto for a workshop on Lessons and Legacy of the Holocaust. The students were a lively group and it was obvious that there was a lot of excitement about being in the big city - they were from a small town about an hour and a half outside of Toronto. The students were impressive with their knowledge about certain aspects of the Holocaust. There were many conspiracy theories raised about Hitler's shadowy past and origins. One young man wanted to know if it was true that Hitler was "40% Jewish." Elena told him that no, we still have no real evidence that Hitler had any Jewish ancestry, let alone an exact percentage.  Elena spoke to the fact that there is some question about whether Hitler's paternal grandfather could have been part-Jewish and the recent genetic tests done on several of Hitler's living descendants.  Elena explained that this test didn't "prove" anything, but did show that the idea of Jewish ancestry for Hitler is indeed possible.  Elena took this moment as a good time to dismantle the idea of "the Aryan race" as well, pointing out that ethnic groups in Europe have been intermixing for thousands of years.  She also told the group that she doesn’t find the question of where Hitler's personal hatred of Jews came from terribly interesting. There were lots of rabid antisemites throughout Europe  at the time and the reality is, there will always be angry hateful people who blame "outsiders" for a country's problems. The real question is why did so many people admire and glorify this kind of hatred? Why were people throughout Europe willing to accept the persecution of millions of innocents, including children?

After lunch, the students returned to the classroom and listened to a survivor testimony by Andy Reti. Andy spoke to a very attentive group of students.  Andy is great with the middle school age group and they always get a kick out of his biker outfit and use of personal artifacts like his mother's ring. There were several thoughtful questions at the end, including from the teachers themselves. Andy was very impressed by one young woman who wanted to know how Andy's mother felt, living with the parents of her husband (Andy's father), Zoltan, who died during the Holocaust. Andy and his mother lived with his paternal grandparents throughout the war and after, until 1956 when Andy and his mother fled Hungary during the revolution. Andy spoke a little about the fact that it was very difficult for his mother because although she was devastated after losing her young husband during the Holocaust, she was still young and vibrant and it was difficult for her once she was ready for companionship.