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Today, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) hosted a workshop in the Tom & Anna Koffler Tolerance Training Centre for 30 Grades 10-12 students from a local school. The workshop was Lessons and Legacies of the Holocaust and it was very well received by the students.  Most of the students were English as a Second Language students who were very early in their learning of the English language. 

With this in mind, FSWC Educator Elena made sure to use lots of visual aids (maps, propaganda posters, etc.) and passed around several books from the FSWC collection in order to ensure that students were gaining a knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust.  Elena devoted time to the subject of antisemitism in European history and talked about the realities of violence against Jews long before the Holocaust. 

There were some interesting questions asked during the workshop. One student wanted to know what the Nazis thought of Asian people and whether Hitler wanted to put them in camps too. Another student brought up the racism of Japan towards neighbouring countries, including that particular student's country of birth, South Korea.   

Holocaust survivor Gerda Frieberg shared her testimony with the students after lunch.  They were very attentive and respectful while she was speaking and seemed very pleased to have had the opportunity to not only listen to her testimony, but to be able to shake her hand at the end of the presentation as well.

Today also marked our last day in North Bay with the Tour for Humanity at a French middle and high school. Six workshops were presented to the Grade 7 and 8 students. The principal was very impressed and would like us to come back next year in order to reach the senior classes as well.  

During the first workshop students were shocked to know that Canada turned away Jewish refugees during the war. As Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) Educator Daniella explained the story of the SS St. Louis, one student exclaimed that it made no sense because the “Jewish people are just like us. They're not different at all” - which Daniella appreciated. When she explained about current antisemitism the class seemed even more horrified that it still existed. 

The second class of the day was also quite disturbed by the story of the SS St. Louis, with students consistently giving hypothetical suggestions such as, “Why didn't the passengers just jump off the ship” or “Why didn't the captain sail to Africa and try there?”.  Daniella painted a picture of the treatment of Jewish refugees around the world and how many countries, including Canada, were unwilling to take in anyone. 

The 4th class of the day was also very interesting because one student had a grandmother who had been in a residential school. He was able to share some of her story which included her being tortured and held against her will in the school. This story allowed the class to see that history isn't just something that happens somewhere else, but that it affects their lives in their own communities.