Speaking out against hate

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This article was published 09/05/2022 (1341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

About six million Jews, as well as millions of others, died at the hands of Nazi Germany during the Holocaust, a terrifying period in world history that human rights advocates hope is never forgotten.

Yet the risk of forgetting grows with every passing year, so for Grade 12 students at Westwood Collegiate, hearing directly from survivors has helped draw meaningful connections between today’s events and historical atrocities. It’s also the basis of a student-led documentary, Truth Against Distortion: Survivors Speak out Against the Rise in Hate.

“Talking to a survivor is different from reading about them in a history textbook,” said Nathan Varghese. “It’s totally different from just reading about them. It makes it more personal.”

One such survivor is Frank Weinfeld, 92, who is one of the survivors featured in the documentary.

He was just 14 in 1944 in Budapest, when his parents were taken away by the Nazis.

“I went into hiding, living totally on my own… I was a kid. I had nobody to look after me,” he said of this time selling cigarettes on the black market to survive.

His father died in Auschwitz, but his mother survived; Weinfeld was reunited with her after the war. In 1947, he came to Winnipeg and, in 1959, he brought his mother here to live with him.

For Weinfeld, it’s important for Canadian young people to know about the Holocaust.

“I welcomed the opportunity to share my story with them,” he said, adding the documentary is a way for some people “to not forget what happened,” while for others it might be a chance to “learn about it for the first time, and then to learn not to forget what really happened.”

Jasper Bain is one student who appreciated the visit. “I have a much more human connection to that event now,” she said, adding the survivors they talked to “were just children or teens like us when it happened to them.”

“It completely changed my outlook on history to talk to a person who experienced it,” added Megan Morant. “It made the Holocaust more personal, not just about facts, but about real people.”

The goal of the student-created documentary, which features the stories of nine local Holocaust survivors, is to humanize and personalize the terrible event and remind people hate still exists in Canada.

“There are undertones of the Holocaust in society today,” said Nathan. “That hate in the past is still present today.”

Before beginning the project in 2020, the students acknowledged they didn’t know much about the Holocaust.

That changed as they researched survivor stories and prepared questions. Then came the in-person interviews, followed by editing and producing the documentary.

The students were assisted by Kelly Hiebert, a history teacher at Westwood.

“We wanted to humanize the topic, build empathy and understanding towards others,” he said, adding another goal was to “make sure the stories of the survivors aren’t forgotten.”

It was challenging to do during the pandemic with the restrictions, but the students kept at it, he said. “They put in hundreds of hours.”

The students hope viewers come away from the documentary realizing they should be careful what they say about others.

“People should educate themselves before speaking out,” said Megan. “They should realize who will be affected by their remarks.”

Meantime, Jasper hopes people will realize how important it is to “take time to listen to the stories of people who are different from you.”

Other students involved in the project were Julian Joaquim, Blake Edwards and Katherine McDougall.

Belle Jarniewski, executive director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, served as an adviser for the documentary.

“It’s absolutely wonderful that the students did this,” she said.

Through their work, “they are ensuring that others will not only remember this history, but know why it is important to remember.”

Along with the documentary, which can be used by local teachers for students from grades 6 to 12, the Heritage Centre will keep the raw footage in its archive, she said, noting it will be important for when survivors “are sadly no longer with us.”

The 57-minute documentary will debut at Westwood Collegiate Theatre on May 26 at 6 p.m.

The cost to attend the première is $5 (at the door or at http://wfp.to/QNX); proceeds from the ticket sales will be used to fund future student history research projects at the school.

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