WORKSHOPS

Our workshops are:

  • appropriate for students (grades 5 to 12 as indicated), educators and adults of all ages
  • presented by VHEC educators, either in person or online
  • subject to availability of our education staff
  • scheduled for 60 or 90 minutes, depending on the age of participants and workshops selected
  • offered at a cost of $100 per session (subsidy or fee waiver available upon request thanks to generous support from Summit Ice)

Available Workshops

(Click each item for workshop details)

Grade 10+

Secret artwork created by Jewish artists during the Holocaust was a powerful form of defiance and resistance against dehumanization and erasure of individuality. In this workshop, participants explore and interpret this body of work to gain insight on struggle of Jewish artists to preserve their dignity, identity and culture through artistic expression.

Grade 8+

Based on the VHEC’s acclaimed exhibition Age of Influence: Youth & Nazi Propaganda, this workshop explores the Nazi regime’s use of propaganda to shape the attitudes and actions of German youth in the 1930s and 1940s. Using primary sources from the VHEC’s collection, participants analyze the tactics used by the Nazis to indoctrinate young Germans and foster unquestioning devotion to the volksgemeinschaft—the Nazi ideal of a “racially pure” national community. Video testimonies from local survivors give voice to the experience of Jewish children who were subjected to Nazi propaganda during the Holocaust. The session emphasizes critical thinking and media literacy skills, encouraging participants to reflect on the relationship between propaganda, censorship, and their own media consumption habits.

Grade 8+

In his short film Martha, local filmmaker Daniel Schubert offers a deeply personal and moving account of his grandmother, Martha Katz, a Holocaust survivor. It blends light-hearted moments with harrowing memories from Auschwitz, highlighting both her enduring trauma and her remarkable strength. Participants in this workshop view the film and explore its major themes of Holocaust history, intergenerational memory and Jewish life.

Grade 6+

Participants in this workshop are presented with real-life examples of moral decision making during the Holocaust by those who saved the lives of local survivors. Featuring artefacts, testimonies and other primary sources from the VHEC collection, this workshop explores the role of bystanders in the Holocaust and the complex factors that influenced decision making in this time of moral crisis. We analyse the impact of group processes, character traits, backgrounds and circumstances associated with help and rescue during the Holocaust Participants also consider how the behaviours of individuals in times of moral crisis can impact not only the victims but also the perpetrators, other bystanders and themselves.

Grades 6+

The VHEC’s testimony workshops translate impersonal statistics into the meaningful individual experiences of children who lived through the Holocaust. Participants learn about the stages of the Holocaust as they are guided through the video testimony, photographs and artefacts of local Vancouver survivors. The following testimony workshops are available:

  • Regina Feldman, a child survivor of ghettos and concentration camps in Poland and Germany
  • Serge Vanry, a hidden child in France

Grade 6+

Local filmmaker Hart Snider’s animated short film, The Basketball Game, recounts the real-life encounter between campers at a Jewish summer camp and the former students of convicted Holocaust denier, James Keegstra. Participants view the film and learn about the nature of Holocaust denial, and its impact on individuals and society, and consider how it can be combatted today. The workshop explores how antisemitism spreads and how three communities came together, to try to stop it. The workshop features survivor video testimony and primary source artefacts from the VHEC’s collection.

Grade 10+

Memes are the political flyers of the 21st century. Easy to produce and distribute, they play an increasingly significant role in shaping political, social, and historical discourse. Memes are also a significant tool in peer-to-peer learning with Canadian youth, many of whom look directly to the internet for information about the Holocaust. Unfortunately, memes are also often used to deny, distort, or trivialize the Holocaust.

This workshop utilizes the BC Digital Literacy Framework to teach students how to discern between legitimate educational or historical content and instances of Holocaust denial, distortion, or mockery. It will equip students with a meme literacy framework to critically analyze not just Holocaust memes, but memes as a medium.

This workshop is intended for students with foundational knowledge of the Holocaust.

Grade 10+

Antisemitism and conspiratorial thinking are interwoven phenomena that are on the rise. By exploring the historical context of conspiratorial thinking, this workshop educates participants about how these theories have led to historical atrocities like the Holocaust, and how they continue to influence modern conspiracy beliefs. Participants will gain insights into the origins and impacts of conspiracy theories, learn about anti-misinformation strategies, and be equipped with the tools to critically analyze conspiracy theories.

The workshop is intended for students with foundational knowledge of the Holocaust.

Workshop Request Form

Please complete this form to request a workshop. Answer all required sections and indicate any special requirements of your group. A member of the education staff will contact you to discuss your request. We will try our best to accommodate all requests, subject to availability of our staff.