Around the world, students are exploring genocide survivor testimony in IWitness – even in Pakistan.

Stephen Johnson teaches International Baccalaureate (IB) history at the International School of Islamabad in Pakistan, after moving from Vermont about two years ago. He said that he somehow never learned about the Holocaust when he was in school, so he’s tried to learn as much about it as he can in order to be able to teach it to his students. He learned about IWitness while attending the Jan Karski Institute for Holocaust Education at Georgetown University this summer.

In Pakistan, Johnson said, he finds himself in a unique situation. Most of his students from around the world have limited or no knowledge of the Holocaust when they enter his class, and his Pakistani students, about one-third of the student body, have never been exposed to it before.

There have also been anti-Israel incidents recently, and the Pakistani government does not recognize the state of Israel or allow citizens to travel there. So Johnson is careful to focus only on anti-Semitism and the period of 1933-1945 when he teaches about the Holocaust.

Johnson has his students view testimonies, read about the lives of the individuals, compare similar experiences such as death march, transport, ghetto living and selection, and present their research.

This was his first year using IWitness but Johnson said he plans to return to it again.

“Using the testimonials my students were thus able to approach this immensely important topic from the perspective of the individual and thereby connect their lives to these individuals,” he said. “It made for some powerful classroom presentations and hopefully instilled and nurtured their desire to further learn about the Holocaust both inside and outside of the classroom.”