Learning With Testimony - The Power Of Propaganda

USC Shoah Foundation​

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During this session, students will learn how propaganda was used to spread antisemitism in Nazi Germany and the effects it had on youth during the time. Students will watch testimony from two individuals who share their personal experiences of the impact this propaganda had on them, and will discover the importance of asking questions and considering alternative points of view. By the end of this session, students will consider the role they can play in society to counter contemporary forms of antisemitism.

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Sedda Antekelian is a Learning and Development Specialist at USC Shoah Foundation. She develops testimony-based resources across educational programs and facilitates teacher training, nationally and internationally. She is currently a doctoral candidate in USC Rossier's Global Executive Doctor of Education program.

History Of The Holocaust 101 - Virtual History Lesson

Montreal Holocaust Museum

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This session will narrate the history of the Holocaust by showcasing key artefacts and survivor testimony videos from the Montreal Holocaust Museum’s permanent exhibition. Students will learn about the experiences of Jewish communities before, during and after the Holocaust, and will reflect on the destruction caused by prejudice, racism and antisemitism.

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Monique MacLeod is the Montreal Holocaust Museum's Head of Education. She oversees education partnerships, professional development and resources for educators, as well as Museum-based programming for school and group visitors.

Dignity and Rights

Canadian Museum for Human Rights

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Students will learn about the role “othering” plays in the denial of dignity and rights. By examining three case studies: the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the Holocaust and the Indigenous experience with colonization in Canada. Students will recognize othering as a starting point for many human rights violations, including genocide.

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Heroes Of The Holocaust - Rescuers And Those They Saved

Kathy Kacer

Kathy Kacer will talk about her own background as the child of Holocaust survivors and how she came to write more than 30 books about this history. She will also will talk about who the rescuers were at that time in history; their backgrounds and where they came from; their willingness to be up-standers at a dangerous time in history. Students will learn about a number of books that focus on rescuers - those who were well known and saved many Jews, and those who were unknown and still risked their lives for their Jewish friends and neighbours. The books will be geared to kids of various reading abilities and ranges and will include picture books, early chapter books and novels. The session will be interactive, encouraging questions and discussion.

Kathy has written 30 books on the Holocaust including The Secret of Gabi’s Dresser, The Brushmaker's Daughter, and Under the Iron Bridge. A winner of many Forest of Reading Awards Kathy has written unforgettable and inspiring stories. She speaks to children in schools and libraries about the importance of the Holocaust and keeping its memory alive.

Shannon Foley Martinez - Discussion With A Former White Supremacist

Classrooms without Borders

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Shannon Foley Martinez, a former violent white supremacist, has two decades of experience in developing community resource platforms aimed at inoculating individuals against violence-based lifestyles and ideologies. Foley Martinez has worked in at-risk communities teaching and developing dynamic resiliency skills. She has worked for school systems, nonprofits, and community organizations. She has participated in programs with such organizations as the UN Office of Counter Terrorism, the National Counterterrorism Center, Hedayah, The Center for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence, UN Women, and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Her story has been featured globally, including: The TODAY Show, NBC’s “Left Field,” The Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Associated Press, The Washington Post, Marie Claire magazine, Quartz, Al Jazeera America, and Georgia Public Broadcasting’s “On Second Thought” program. She has been a commentator on such news outlets as HLN, CNN, Canada One and BBC Radio. Foley Martinez has also assisted in training law enforcement officers, building programs for educators, and collaborating with tech companies like Google and Twitter. As the mother of seven children, she feels passionately about building empowered families and communities. She believes that we all have the power to enact profound and fundamental change in our lives.

Rescuers & Resistors: Leadership In The Holocaust

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies

Rescuers & Resistors: Leadership During the Holocaust offers students the opportunity to learn about the history of the Holocaust through a multi-dimensional approach to the question of authority and decision-making against the backdrop of the Second World War. The program will highlight three key areas of leadership: Nazi perpetrators and their collaborators, bystanders, and rescuers (Righteous Among the Nations). One of the central goals of the program will be to demystify Adolf Hitler as a leader and help students understand the symbolic power this figure continues to have in our world today. We will also seek to decentralize Hitler in this history, recognizing that our cultural obsession with the infamous dictator has overshadowed important aspects of the Holocaust. One of these aspects is the courage and heroism demonstrated by thousands of Righteous Among the Nations figures who arguably demonstrated an equally important type of leadership, moral leadership, in the face of overwhelming hatred. The program will conclude with a student-led discussion about the qualities exemplified in the various leaders discussed and an overview of proactive leadership strategies students can use in their own lives to work towards building more inclusive Canadian communities.

Elena Kingsbury has taught thousands of students across Canada about the Holocaust, genocide, and other acts of hate and intolerance. Her academic path led her to McGill University for an M.A. in History before teaching at Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center as a Senior Educator.

They Fought Back!

Echoes & Reflections

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Contrary to popular belief, throughout the Holocaust Jews fought back. Sometimes this was done by taking up arms, but more often resistance was spiritual and cultural, including such acts as writing diaries and poetry, attending secret schools, and praying. Teaching about resistance can serve as inspiration and empowerment in the classroom. We will discuss different types of resistance and the connection between them.

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Liz Elsby is an artist and educator. She studied in the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and Bezalel Academy, and was awarded the honor of Presidential Scholar in the Arts. She combines art with Holocaust education at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, as a graphic designer and guide in the Holocaust History Museum.