Calgary Jewish Federation, Holocaust and Human Rights: Remembrance and Education Department
ABOUT US
The mission of the Holocaust and Human Rights: Remembrance and Education department of Calgary Jewish Federation is to promote acceptance, social justice, and human rights through education and remembrance of the Holocaust. As the primary leader in Holocaust education for Southern Alberta, our department engages thousands of students annually. In addition, we present, partner, and sponsor numerous public cultural and commemorative events to memorialize those who perished and honour those who survived.
Join our mailing list and be the first to know about all of our upcoming programs for students and educators. Everyone who signs up will be entered to win a free Holocaust Education Package featuring: In Hiding (by Marguerite Elias Quddus), Holocaust and Human Behavior (A Facing History and Ourselves publication), A Teacher's Resource for 'Night' by Elie Wiesel (produced by Facing History and Ourselves, and Voices of Love and Freedom), Witness: Passing the Torch of Holocaust Memory to a New Generation, and a DVD copy of The Last Days (by James Moll, produced by Steven Spielberg and the Shoah Foundation).
VIRTUAL HOLOCAUST EDUCATION SYMPOSIUM
MAY 2 - 6, 2022
Don't miss out on your chance to be part of Alberta's largest Holocaust Education program. Register now and don't miss out on this FREE and impactful educational experience. Note: This program is intended for high school (grades 10-12) students only.
From May 2 to 6 – in partnership with Mount Royal University (MRU) and Calgary Public Library – the virtual Holocaust Education Symposium will give educators and their students' special access to view:
- A presentation by an MRU historian, providing a context for the Holocaust to help students understand what was happening in Europe prior to and during the Holocaust.
- A short film examining the Nazis' rise to power in Germany and a historical overview of the Holocaust, intended to provoke reflection and discussion.
These pre-recorded presentations may be viewed by registered classrooms at any time during the week.
On Friday, May 6, educators and their students are invited to join us to watch a special presentation by a Holocaust survivor over Zoom, which will be followed by a live Q & A by one of their descendants.
ABOUT SYMPOSIUM
For nearly 40 years, local Holocaust survivors and their descendants have shared their stories with tens of thousands of high school students at Calgary Jewish Federation’s Holocaust Education Symposium in cooperation with MRU. Despite the difficulty in sharing their painful memories, brave survivors have been recounting their unspeakable and complicated experiences while consistently leaving students with a message of hope for the future. Starting in the mid-80s as a response to Holocaust denial spread by an Alberta teacher, these stories are gifts that help us spread the concepts of acceptance, understanding, and peace and stand as memorials to those who were silenced by the Holocaust.
HERE TO TELL – FACES OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
May 27 - July 3, 2022
Coming to the Glenbow Museum’s exhibit space at The Edison. Here to Tell – Faces of Holocaust Survivors is a three-part Holocaust survivor photography project aiming to educate the community about the Holocaust and antisemitism while honouring and commemorating our Calgary-connected Holocaust survivors.
This project represents a unique and vanishing opportunity to honour living Holocaust survivors, as well as those who have passed on. The project consists of a photography exhibit, a book, as well as a short film featuring the photography process and behind-the-scenes look into the creation of this commemorative and educational project. Free busing and admission will be provided to Calgary schools, grades 8 to 12.
To register please email Danielle Boroff of the Calgary Glenbow Museum. Admission and busing are FREE of charge.
HEAR FROM A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR
Hear and learn from a survivor
These live and/or pre-recorded presentations by survivors are available both virtually and in person. Presentations are accompanied by facilitated Q & A. Please note: Due to COVID restrictions, we are currently offering virtual presentations only.
THE SECOND VOICES PROJECT
The Second Voices Project is a series of Holocaust survivor testimonials brought into schools by second- and third-generation descendants of Holocaust survivors. With help from a generous grant from the Government of Alberta, Calgary Jewish Federation has created multi-media presentations whereby children and grandchildren bring their parents’ or grandparents’ survivor testimony to life in grade 4 to 12 classrooms. Students learn the history of the Holocaust through a survivor’s story while absorbing valuable lessons about human rights, tolerance, and the dangers of hatred.
YAD VAHSEM PROGRAMS
Established in 1953, Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, is entrusted with the task of commemorating, documenting, researching, and educating about the Holocaust – remembering the over six million Jews murdered by the German Nazis and their collaborators, the destroyed Jewish communities, and the ghetto and resistance fighters – and honouring the Righteous Among the Nations who risked their lives to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. Yad Vashem encompasses 45 acres on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem and is comprised of various museums, research and education centres, monuments, and memorials. Among these are the Museum Complex, the Hall of Remembrance, the Valley of the Communities, and the Children’s Memorial.
AVAILABLE YAD VASHEM PROGRAMS
Holocaust Series for Teens: Tour of Yad Vashem for Teens
Explore the history of the Holocaust with one of Yad Vashem’s expert guides on a one-of-a-kind virtual tour of the Holocaust History Museum. Suitable for teens ages 15 to 18.
Holocaust Series for Teens: Last Letters
A virtual and interactive program to review the final letters sent from Holocaust victims to their loved ones. Each archival letter and postcard reveals the inner world and fate of Jews in the Holocaust. For many recipients, these were the last greetings from the home and people they left behind. Suitable for teens ages 15 to 18.
Holocaust Series for Teens: How was it Humanly Possible?
Human choice and human-made circumstances led to the murder of six million Jews, and millions of others. This virtual and interactive program looks at both the historical discipline and moral concern regarding the perpetrators and bystanders of the Holocaust. Suitable for teens ages 15 to 18.
The Auschwitz Album
From photographs and actual letters of prisoners to survivor testimony, this virtual presentation gives participants an important piece of visual documentation of the workings at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp. Participants will have the unique opportunity to explore the essence of Auschwitz, depicting the arrival and selection, and what it really meant to be a prisoner inside the camp. This program also includes a pre-recorded tour of Auschwitz Block 27 (the Jewish block).
Holocaust Series for Kids: Memories in a Suitcase
This interactive program introduces Calgary youth, ages 11 to 14 years to the Holocaust. Kids follow the lives and experiences of four separate children, by examining the contents of a virtual suitcase. The items found within tell the stories of children whose Holocaust experiences are as varied as their fates.
HOLOCAUST EDUCATION SUITCASE
A replica suitcase is available for classes on loan.
It is designed to put primary documents and artifacts into the hands of students. 
They are then encouraged to examine, describe, and analyze the items as a means to investigate issues of discrimination, segregation, hiding, and resistance, as well as the aftermath of war and immigration. Learning is supported by student information cards and teacher guides. Recommended for elementary school classes, grade five and up.
ECHOS AND REFLECTIONS CURRICULUM
The study of the Holocaust underlines that genocide is a process that can be challenged or perhaps stopped rather than a spontaneous or inevitable event. The Holocaust demonstrated how a nation can utilize its bureaucratic structures, processes, and technical expertise while enlisting multiple segments of society to implement policies over time ranging from exclusion and discrimination to genocide. Echos and Reflections is an award-winning, easy-to-follow curriculum and lesson plans on the Holocaust. We invite you to find out more here.
CONTACT US
To learn more about our programs and offerings, please contact us.