Holocaust Education Week 2025: A Week of Learning, Reflection, and Engagement

Holocaust Education Week 2025 brought together students, educators, and community members across Hamilton for a series of programs focused on learning, reflection, and meaningful engagement with Holocaust history and its relevance today.

Rather than a single event, Hamilton Jewish Federation designed a week that unfolded through multiple programs designed for different audiences, each offering a distinct entry point into the conversation.

Launching the Week: Teen Engagement 

The week began with a Teen Tour of our Centre in partnership with BBYO, NCSY, and TASTY.

Students heard from Jantina DeVries, who shared her family’s story. During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, her parents, Hendrik and Frederika Veldboom, hid five Jewish individuals in their farmhouse near the German border. It was an act of courage that placed their own lives at risk.

The program was led by educator Lila Strub and provided students with an opportunity to engage directly with questions of moral responsibility and individual action.

High School Seminar: Propaganda, Perception, and Responsibility

A separate program for high school students focused on the role of propaganda during the Holocaust and its continued relevance today.

Students heard from author Jerry Faivish and publisher Margie Wolfe, who discussed Faivish’s book Can Posters Kill? Antisemitic Propaganda and World War II. The session explored how visual messaging was used to influence public perception and normalize antisemitism. This felt extremely timely to students in this demographic.

The program also included a presentation by Jantina DeVries, reinforcing the contrast between the spread of hate and the actions of individuals who chose to resist it.

Extending Holocaust Education Beyond the Classroom

On November 10, a Holocaust Education Seminar was held for community professionals, educators, and civil servants.

The session featured Michelle Sadowski of the Azrieli Foundation, who shared approaches to teaching Holocaust history through survivor testimony and discussed how these lessons apply in professional and community settings.

Participants also heard from representatives of JCC Budapest, Dan Alpert, Marcell Kenesei, and Rachel Meyerowitz, who provided insight into the development of Jewish life in Hungary from the Holocaust period through to the present.

Middle School Symposium

Later in the week, hundreds of middle school students participated in our Holocaust Education Symposium. A central component of the symposium was a presentation by Karen Levine, who spoke about her book Hana’s Suitcase and the story behind it. Through Hana Brady’s life, students were introduced to the Holocaust through an individual narrative, helping to make the history more accessible and personal.

A Week of Connection and Responsibility

Taken together, the programs throughout Holocaust Education Week reflected a broader approach to education, one that moves beyond information toward engagement.

Students explored how propaganda shapes perception.

Community members examined how Holocaust education is an important part of their professional roles.

Participants across all programs were asked to consider how history informs present-day responsibility.

Holocaust Education Week is ultimately about more than remembrance. It is about ensuring that the lessons of the past continue to inform how individuals and communities respond to hatred, discrimination, and injustice today.

We are grateful to the educators, speakers, partners, and participants who made this week possible, and to everyone who took the time to engage with this important work.