Impactful Holocaust Education Presentation

Audrey Diamant, educator at Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre, was impressed by Linden students' insightful questions.

On Thursday, November 5, The Linden School virtually hosted Audrey Diamant in honour of Holocaust Education Week. Ms. Diamant, an educator at Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre, spoke about the atrocities suffered by 6 million Jewish people, stories from survivors of the mass genocide, and took part in meaningful conversations with Linden’s older students.

“It’s been touching to see how important education on this topic is to our students,” says history teacher Martin Ramirez. “Our classes have been interested in spreading awareness and recognition of the trauma the Jewish people faced.”

Throughout the hour-long presentation, Ms. Diamant spoke about the liberation process and what means of reconciliation have been implemented since then. Questions from Linden students led to a conversation about how we can prevent such atrocities from happening again. In particular, the students wanted to hear Ms. Diamant’s thoughts on the Black Lives Matter movement and how we can relate lessons from the past to the social initiatives of today.

In an email exchange with Martin, Ms. Diamant observed: “Your students were so attentive, and their questions so smart and insightful. Our conversation before the session started also demonstrated to me what a wonderful teacher they have in you – curious, so well informed, so focused on figuring out the most effective way to teach students and prepare them for the future.”

Students went on to inquire how we can help our friends who have experienced anti-semitism in today’s day and age. Conversations about compassion and empathy were met with moments of solace remembering those who suffered, and those who were lost.

Photo credit (modified from original): * Berlin: Holocaust-Denkmal * Berlin, Germany: Holocaust Memorial Source: May 21, 2005 {{GFDL}}{{cc-by-sa-2.0}}