Witness to History: Introduction to Testimony is a learning experience offered in classrooms and through our Mobile Museums of Tolerance. Typically delivered as a 50-minute experience, the program invites students in grades 9-12 to explore historical testimony as a tool for deepening understanding of the Holocaust and the Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Aligned with the C3 College, Career, and Civic Life Framework and the CASEL Social and Emotional Learning Framework, the workshop develops social awareness, critical dialogue, and ethical storytelling. Through engagement with testimony and historical primary sources, learners examine how individual contributions shape our understanding of these historical atrocities. Students become active witnesses to history through firsthand survivor accounts, reflecting on the profound impact of survivor testimony while emphasizing the uniqueness of each historical experience. This engagement illuminates the importance of preserving collective memory and understanding human-centered history, recognizing historical memory as a civic responsibility. Through a facilitator-led story-sharing activity, learners practice ethical storytelling by sharing personal narratives and listening to peers, recognizing their own voices as meaningful contributions to the ongoing human story.
