Holocaust and Hope Educators Study Tour

This year’s Educators Tour is made possible by funding from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the Metcalfe Foundation and the B’nai Brith Foundation.

The League for Human Rights is a national volunteer agency dedicated to combatting racial discrimination, bigotry and antisemitism, and to promoting human rights for all Canadians. Through its unique HOLOCAUST AND HOPE Educators program, created almost 15 years ago, the League helps teachers from all backgrounds confront history through a multi-faceted program of lectures, on-site visits, and personal contacts, so that they can develop Holocaust education curricula in the context of anti-racist education in Canada.

The HOLOCAUST AND HOPE Educators Tour to Israel provides a solid experiential basis for high school educators who have an interest in learning about the Holocaust and including it in their curriculum materials. They gain an intensive and invaluable first hand understanding of the Holocaust through a multi-faceted program of lectures, on-site visits and personal contacts.

All candidates are presently be teaching or committed to material relating to the Holocaust in the upcoming school year or be involved in the development of curriculum materials in the area. The participants have demonstrated commitment to multicultural, anti-racist and/or human rights education. In addition to being involved in educational initiatives within their own communities, these educators are committed to effecting changes in the curriculum to include Holocaust education and commemoration.

The 2003 HOLOCAUST AND HOPE Educators Tour will focus this year on teachers from First Nations communities across Canada. The rationale for this choice of educators is as follows. In December 2002, an Elder of the aboriginal community, David Ahenakew, made outrageous antisemitic comments to a reporter in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. These statements, which included the most vicious Holocaust denial, were widely reported in the media across the country.

In subsequent months, senior educators belonging to the First Nations indicated an interest in educating their communities on issues relating to the Holocaust by the inclusion of key educators from within their ranks in the 2003 HOLOCAUST AND HOPE Educators Tour.


Rochelle Wilner President	Frank Dimant Chief Executive Officer	Prof. Stephen Scheinberg National Chair

Educator’s Study Tour