Canada faces a startling issue: the growth of extremist hate groups, antisemitism, and racism combined with Holocaust distortion, misinformation, and false news spreading on social media. Although Jews make up only 1.25% of Canada’s population, they are the target of the majority of hate crimes in this country – and the number keeps rising, according to B’nai Brith Canada’s annual audit. In Ottawa, there has been a significant increase in the number of hate crimes reported.
At the same time, as antisemitism is rising in Ottawa schools, it is imperative that youth have a better understanding of the past in order to play a role in shaping the future of a free and just society. Administrators and teachers across our city are looking for tools, materials, and methods to deal with the increase in antisemitism and hate on social media and in their schools as they deliver lessons in Social Studies, History, Literature, Human Rights, and Religion. As a direct result, the demand for the CHES Speakers’ Bureau increased dramatically.
As the number of survivors who are able to share their survival experience declines, now is the time to connect with, engage, and train descendants of Holocaust survivors as future educators. Empowering the Next Generation to share their families’ stories will benefit the community for years to come and build strong relationships with people who may not otherwise be connected to Jewish Ottawa, with the descendants of survivors, and with the greater Ottawa community.
Through Their Eyes will be rolled out in several phases. Participants will examine the current need for Holocaust education, deepen their knowledge of the Holocaust, learn how to access information about their parents’ and grandparents’ history, and give voice to their own experiences by participating in learning programs and social events. Together they will forge personal relationships, develop skills, and positively affect our community by bearing witness so we can remember and recognize our strength and resilience.
CHES hopes that Through Their Eyes, which is long overdue in our community, will yield four new presentations in the next two years. CHES data shows that there are over 200 to 300 descendants of survivor families in Ottawa. The makeup of this group includes the children of the survivors who made Ottawa their home and the many descendants who moved to Ottawa from other centres in Canada. CHES will seek and engage additional descendants through its contacts with local synagogues and Jewish organizations.
Understanding that our remaining survivors are a vulnerable senior population, Through Their Eyes will provide an invaluable opportunity for our Second and Third Generation participants to interact and learn from the survivors and to tap into their vast experience in providing educational presentations throughout Ottawa and the surrounding area.
The author Roberta Goldmaker is a member of the CHES.
