Tour for Humanity wrapped up the week at a public school in Aurora, where Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Daniella worked with Grades 4-8 students. The school librarian organized the visit because she felt FSWC's messaging was very important for the students. There were 6 workshops on the bus, 3 Simon’s Story workshops for Grades 4-6 students and 3 Canadian Experience workshops for the Grades 7 and 8 classes.

Almost all of the classes were incredibly interested in the Holocaust, and as such Daniella spent a considerable part of each workshop answering questions and dispelling common myths and conspiracies. The day began with Grades 4 and 5 classes that had recently read the novel Number the Stars so naturally they were quite keen to know more.

Daniella had an interesting “teachable moment” with the Grade 5 class. A student shared the fact that his great-grandfather had been a Nazi. As soon as he said this, his classmates all gasped and looked horrified. He went on to explain that his great-grandfather was German and had been forced to join the Nazis and later escaped to Holland. This allowed Daniella to explain to the class that while a large segment of the population did participate, not all Germans were Nazis.

The last group of the day was a Grade 8 class. At the end of the workshop one student made a comment that she had heard about a lot of the historical events we discussed before in school, but that the way it was presented on the bus really made her listen closely. She said it had an impact on her.