“The Teacher’s Workshop on The Nuremberg of Hate and the Nuremberg of Justice organized by the Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship was a most inspiring and inspired event. It brought together survivors, students, educators and community leaders engaged in profound discussions on the danger of forgetting and the imperative of remembrance, the danger of indifference and the responsibility to act. In particular, it sought to impart the teaching that we must never be silent in the face of evil, that we will always speak up, and stand up, against injustice. Let there be no mistake: indifference always means coming down on the side of the aggressor, never on the side of the victim. It is this teaching which makes the Centre’s work so crucial.”
Irwin Cotler is the Chairman of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, an Emeritus Professor of Law at McGill University, former Member of Parliament, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and an international human rights lawyer.
November 2016 was the 80th anniversary of the Nuremberg laws and the 70th anniversary of the Nuremberg trials. This workshop was specifically designed for High School teachers and focused on: “The Nuremberg of Hate and the Nuremberg of Justice”. What have we learned? What can we do?”
Prof. Cotler discussed the conditions under which genocide can occur including state sanctioned incitement to hatred and the indifference of bystanders. Following a dinner break teachers participated in 3 stimulating rotations: The Nuremberg Hate Laws, the Nuremberg Trials, and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The evening concluded with the discussion “What Have We Learned? What Can We Do?”
OCDSB award winning teacher Patrick Mascoe presented his Holocaust education program, which he has used in his school over the past years. His “Tolerance Initiative” has been publicly recognized by former Premier Dalton McGuinty, Prime Ministers – Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau, and by the Daniel Pearl Foundation in Los Angeles. A former student of Masco, and current student of Human Rights at Carleton University, Sophia Mirzayee, spoke about her classroom experience as Mascoe’s Holocaust education program and the impact it has had on her life.
The following teacher’s activities are adapted from Facing History and Ourselves online teacher’s materials. Thank you to this tremendous organization for its fantastic work and dedication to understanding the effects of racism and othering and the importance of compassion and understanding.
Resources
- Intro 1 – Hitler- the Nazi Rise to Power
- Intro 2 – The Aftermath of the Second World War the Holocaust
- Intro to Nuremberg Laws Shown at Nuremberg Symposium – May 4 (Video clip)
- Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Video clip)
- Prof. Cotler, Lessons of the Holocaust
Workshop activities:
- Anti-Jewish Measures: Coral Reading
- Café Conversations
- The Scholl Family
- The Faculty of Law
- The Nuremberg Trials
- The Nuremberg Trials Group Activities
- Universe of Obligations
- Universe of Obligation Part 2
- Evaluation Forms
Above we have listed the links to each of the teaching strategies that we have used. For specific teaching strategies in this material that would be useful in your own classrooms, you can visit the Facing History and Ourselves website and download their instructions, tools, and examples, in addition to our adapted examples.
Keynote address: Prof. Irwin Cotler, Emeritus Professor of Law at McGill University, a former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and a former Member of Parliament. Cotler is an international human rights lawyer and is the current Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights in Montreal.
