The Holocaust saw six million Jews murdered by Nazi-German authorities, in the lands they controlled, between 1933 and 1945. This sobering statistic has done much over the last eight decades to force nations to confront anti-Semitism within their borders.
But recent incidents show more work needs to be done, as there were 2,799 reported anti-Semitic incidents in Canada in 2022, according to Bânai Brith Canada.
Now, thanks to a powerful exhibit on display recently at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, district educators are teaching students about the Holocaust and the origins of anti-Semitism.
âWe want them to understand where modern-day anti-Semitism comes from,â said Holocaust exhibit director Jasmine Kranat. âTheyâre the next generation of leaders in our community that will make a difference.â
The exhibit started as a pilot project in the 2021-2022 school year with visits from 200 Fredericton High School students. This school year, 600 district students from five schools visited the exhibitâwhich was designed by Jasmineâs mother, Ayten Kranatâat both the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and the Fredericton Synagogue.
Displays chronicle the anti-Semitic origins of the Holocaust, the methods Naziâs used to strip Jews of their rights in Nazi-controlled lands, and the victimization and murder of Jewish people in ghettos and concentration camps.
On a recent visit, students from Harvey High School watched recorded testimonials from Holocaust survivors and heard a lecture from Rabbi Yosef Goldman of Frederictonâs Sgoolai Israel Synagogue.
âActually, I know a lot about what happened because my mother is German,â said Lucas Azpilicueta, a Harvey High School Grade 10 exchange student from Spain. âShe always taught me about the Holocaust. She said it was very important for me to know what happened and why. She read me The Diary of Anne Frank when I was nine years old, and I still remember everything.â
But Kranat hopes the exhibit reaches those with scant Holocaust knowledge because âIâve met a lot of students and a lot of adults who donât know what the Holocaust is, and I really hope itâs because of lack of awareness and not ignorance and hate.â
âI worry that when some people see things on social media, theyâre not critical thinkers; theyâre not questioning what theyâre seeing,â she said. âA lot of the kids have told me that they see neo-Nazi propaganda on social media all the time. Social media is VERY dangerous.â
The exhibit also offers students exposure to the local Jewish community âbecause sometimes the students have never met a Jewish person or learned about the Jewish community,â said Social Studies Educational Support Teacher Eric Church, the districtâs lead for the Holocaust exhibit visits.
âThe goal of this Holocaust exhibit visit is for students to learn, to wonder, to question what happened in the Holocaust, to learn what Anti-Semitism is,â said Church. âThe loss of six million lives; even for me, itâs hard to wrap your head around the scope of the tragedy.â
âItâs important to see how [the Holocaust] is treated in other countries, like Canada,â said Tim Neidert, a Harvey High School Grade 10 exchange student from Germany. âPeople think âwe did that [in the past], but weâre not doing that anymore,â which isnât true. Anti-Semitism is still a big problem. It still exists.â
Positive Impact
Though the exhibitâs subject matter is grim, both Kranat and Church believe it is having the desired effect on students.
âI give the kids reflection cards at the end, and some of the kids say, âI didnât understand why anti-Semitism and Jewish jokes were so offensive. But today, I learned, and Iâm never going to do that againâ,â said Kranat.
Based on student feedback, Church said, âWeâre hearing things like âI didnât realize I was using anti-Semitic rhetoric in the past. I heard something anti-Semitic, and I didnât do anything. Next time Iâll step up to the plate.ââ
The Holocaust exhibit is currently on display at Frederictonâs Sgoolai Israel Synagogue.
