Through Their Stories, We Remember Them: Holocaust Education Week at Hillel Guelph
International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which takes place annually on January 27, serves as a global commemoration of the six million Jews and five million others who were killed during the Holocaust. The date January 27 has particular significance, as it marks when the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated in 1945.
At Hillel Guelph this year, International Holocaust Remembrance Day won’t just be a day-long observance, but part of a weeklong Holocaust education effort featuring a slate of eight different programs.
The week will begin with “Stories from Our Families,” a screening of the USC Shoah Foundation testimonies telling the stories of two students’ families, followed by an open discussion for students to reflect on Holocaust remembrance in their lives, helping to establish “family stories” as the theme for this year’s Holocaust Education Week. Students will then have the opportunity to visit the Royal Ontario Museum’s new exhibit on the Holocaust, “Auschwitz: Not long ago. Not far away” – a trip open to both Jewish and non-Jewish students – allowing them to engage with Holocaust education more intimately. The week will conclude with testimony from Canadian survivor Sol Nayman, giving current students, who are the last generation that will be able to learn directly from survivors, the opportunity to hear and bear witness to their stories.
On the memorial day itself, Hillel Guelph will hold a public candle-lighting and ceremony, including poems, songs, and impactful speeches from Hillel student leaders. The Hillel will also host an exhibit in the style of Yad VaShem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial museum, educating the wider student body on how the Holocaust happened and its effects on modern Canadian Jews.
“Holocaust Education Week has always been a cornerstone of our programming,” said Chaya Mamer, Ezra Jewish Education Fellow at Hillel Guelph. “Something unique about the Canadian Jewish community is there are a lot of third-generation survivors. Storytelling helps get the history of the Holocaust across to an unrelated student by making it personal. It makes it feel real.”
Hillel Guelph’s Holocaust Education Week was organized by a committee of 13 student leaders who developed the comprehensive slate of programs based on their family experiences and what they hope their classmates will take from participating. Six of the 13 students will share their families’ stories throughout the week.
“I was drawn to lead Holocaust Education Week because the Holocaust is something that has been important to me since I found out that all my great-grandparents were victims,” said Leora Strigberger, student co-lead on the committee. “I have spent the past 10 years learning about it, both through historical sources and personal stories, and so I jumped at the opportunity to share my knowledge with others.”
Amy Feigelsohn, student co-president of Hillel Guelph’s student leadership board, said this programming feels particularly relevant today.
“Holocaust education at Guelph is especially important [to me] given the rise of antisemitism around the world. It’s crucial that we educate our campus community about the atrocities of the Holocaust to ensure that such horrors are never repeated.” she said. .
Most of Hillel Guelph’s Holocaust remembrance events this year will be open to the wider campus community, including the trip to the Royal Ontario Museum and the survivor testimonials. These events are intended to give all students the ability to connect and engage firsthand with the history of the Holocaust, using storytelling to keep this history alive and help students connect with it in a way that feels real.
“What we hope for anyone who comes across any of our events is that they walk away learning something new about the Holocaust,” said Mamer. “At the end of the day, knowledge is power, and is critical to creating a safer, more inclusive environment for Jewish students.”