Clarence Middle School Students First in WNY to Experience Mobile Museum of Tolerance

Clarence Middle School eighth graders had the opportunity to learn and take part in discussions about the Holocaust and being an upstander in the face of hate as they became the first students in Western New York to experience a Mobile Museum of Tolerance.

“Even in difficult circumstances, there are choices that can be made,” said Ann Pesahovitz, director of education programming in New York for the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “Even small choices, even small actions can move the needle.”

The mobile bus museum, which offers multiple educational programs about the Holocaust, the Civil Rights movement and media literacy, hosted eighth grade classes at the Middle School on November 19-20. During their presentation, teaching staff led discussions of art and newsreel footage showing the rise and spread of Nazi ideology, and how propaganda of the time led to the dehumanization of and violence against Jewish people and other targeted groups. 

“Students are really engaging. They need a place to be heard,” Pesahovitz said. “If you create the parameters for a respectful conversation, you’ll be impressed by what they are saying.” 

Students also learned about individuals who stood up to the hate of the time, including Miep Gies, who hid Anne Frank, her family and other Dutch Jews, along with Sophie Scholl, a German university student who was executed for sharing anti-Nazi materials. Teacher Jennifer Pukalo said the mobile museum brought lessons of being an upstander in a fresh way that captured their attention.

“This experience made the kids think about the power they have, and the responsibility they have to help others,” she said.

Lauren Bloomberg, director of the Buffalo-based Holocaust Education Resource Organization, said she was impressed by the experience offered to students in the mobile museum, and was excited to see the bus travel to visit other school districts in the region. 

“We could not have asked for a more impactful experience,” she said. “The students in Clarence were knowledgeable, respectful and engaged and took those lessons of the Holocaust forward into lessons of understanding and empathy.”

More information about the Mobile Museum of Tolerance can be found at https://mmot.com/.