Join fellow educators for a day of professional learning onsite at the Toronto Holocaust Museum (THM).
Holocaust Education: Tools for Today is a collaborative initiative developed and delivered by the Toronto Holocaust Museum, Facing History & Ourselves Canada and the Azrieli Foundation’s Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program. This signature series of full-day professional development sessions will equip educators with practical, age-appropriate tools that can be brought back to the classroom. Each session includes curriculum-connected workshops for Grade 6 and Grade 10 that model best practices in Holocaust education, as well as time to explore the THM’s galleries. Participating educators will come away with refined skills and resources to support student learning.
Professional development dates will be offered to Grade 6 and Grade 10 educators by grade level through their school board curriculum consultants. Reach out to your curriculum consultant to find out which dates are available for your grade level and school board.
Programming in French will be offered on select dates depending on registration.
Sessions are offered at no cost to participants, made possible through support from the Azrieli Foundation. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.
Educator workshops at the THM. Photos by Josh Nezon for the Toronto Holocaust Museum, 2024.
Educator workshops at the THM. Photos by Josh Nezon for the Toronto Holocaust Museum, 2024.
The facilitation was fantastic. Thank you for sharing practical activities and resources, and for breaking down learning that is connected to the curriculum.
YRDSB Grade 6 Teacher
PD Program Participant
Partner Organizations
The Azrieli Foundation's Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program
The Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program was established by the Azrieli Foundation in 2005 to collect, publish and share the memoirs and diaries written by survivors of the Holocaust who came to Canada. We have published the stories of over 130 survivor authors. These books are read every year by students across Canada, and we have provided more than a million copies of our award-winning memoirs to Canadian educators and students.
Facing History & Ourselves is an education and professional development organization committed to helping teachers and their students use the lessons of history to stand up to racism, antisemitism, and other forms of bigotry and hate. They work with schools, boards and teachers, in English, civics, history, social studies/sciences to prepare the next generation to build more civil and just communities based on knowledge and compassion. Facing History’s flagship curriculum and teaching resource collection, Holocaust and Human Behavior (HHB), has been transforming classrooms since 1976.
The Toronto Holocaust Museum is a world-class cultural and educational institution dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and its ongoing relevance. With a strong focus on supporting educators and students, the museum provides specialized programs, resources, and training that bring history to life and foster meaningful classroom connections. A hub for dialogue and teaching, the THM equips the next generation to stand up against antisemitism and hatred in all its forms.
Re:Collection is an educational tool for exploring the history of the Holocaust through firsthand accounts of survivors. This innovative digital resource combines video interviews with memoir excerpts, photos and artifacts, and features interactive timelines and maps to place survivors’ stories in historical and geographic context.
The First Step prepares teachers to begin a unit of study on the Holocaust. Experienced teachers of the Holocaust will find it is a chance to review and reflect on past approaches. Teachers who are new to teaching the Holocaust will be introduced to crucial foundational concepts and approaches. The First Step is intended for educators who teach students age twelve and older in all subjects. This guide is an important starting point for all teachers, including those coming to this topic from subjects outside of history and social studies, such as English, French or visual arts.
Teaching about Jewish Identities, Jewish Heritage, and the Holocaust
This website provides classroom materials, teaching strategies, and professional development opportunities to support Ontario’s new mandates for teaching Jewish heritage and the Holocaust. By exploring these resources, educators will gain a deeper understanding of Jewish identities, immigration histories and communities in Canada, while developing innovative approaches to teaching the Holocaust that encourage reflection on its lessons for today.
Sparkcuriosity, learning and connections to the diversity and complexity of Jewish identities with a short film featuring the voices of students and their adults as they explore unique and shared values, celebrations, foods and experiences.
Explore the challenges and celebrate the successes of Canada’s early Jewish immigrants through levelled readings (available in English and French) that reveal how individuals and communities built institutions that contributed to Jewish life, made way for refugees to resettle and established the foundations for a vibrant and diverse Canada today.
Curriculum Connection: Ontario Grade 6 Social Studies Curriculum (A3.7)
Virtual Museum Experience for Middle School Students
Through the Toronto Holocaust Museum’s Virtual Museum Experiences, we bring the experience of learning in the Museum directly to your classroom. Our Virtual Museum Experiences explore the Holocaust through the lens of Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Canada after the Second World War and through Canadian history, connecting directly to the learning strands in the Grade 6 social studies curriculum.
Students engage through multimedia immersion in the story of a young German Jewish girl, Yael Spier Cohen, who experienced the Holocaust and later shared here story as a Holocaust survivor in Canada. Hear rich testimony from Yael and view primary source documents that inspire critical thinking.
