Teacher training on the Holocaust is both impactful and long lasting. Over the years, the Holocaust Council at GMW has seen the tremendous benefits of working with, supporting, and educating teachers on the Holocaust. These teachers inevitably return to their classrooms and engage their students in innovative ways, having themselves been impacted so greatly by their experiences. Contact Leah Dukes at LDukes@jfedgmw.org and look for more information on applying for Summer 2024 programs in January 2024.
Centropa
Centropa is a Jewish historical institute dedicated to preserving 20th century Jewish family stories from Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Each summer, they bring together over 70 educators from more than 15 countries to the great cities of Europe. During the intense 7-day program, the city as the classroom as well as the stories that Centropa has collected to learn about history and its implications for us today. The core of the CSA is the active participation of teachers, who share their experiences and good practices with each other, and work on lesson plans and cross-border projects together.
NJ Commission on Holocaust/Genocide
The core mission of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education is to promote Holocaust education in the State of New Jersey. On a continual basis, the Commission shall survey the status of Holocaust Education; design, encourage and promote the implementation of Holocaust and genocide education and awareness; provide programs in New Jersey; and coordinate designated events that will provide appropriate memorialization of the Holocaust on a regular basis throughout the state. Each summer the Commission sponsors a trip, led by NJ Holocaust Survivor, Maud Dahme to Berlin, Prague, Krakow, Lublin, Warsaw and Amsterdam for teachers across the state in order to educate firsthand on the atrocities of the Holocaust.
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies (ISHS), established in 1993, focuses upon – and excels in – providing quality Holocaust education to diverse audiences from Israel and across the world. To achieve this, the ISHS trains educators to teach the Holocaust, develops pedagogic and didactic tools to be utilized by teachers, and conducts educational workshops for youth and soldiers from Israel and abroad. The ISHS has developed a unique multi-disciplinary educational philosophy, based upon teaching the Holocaust in an age-appropriate manner. Educators are taught to bring their students safely in and safely out of the learning environment with the provision of age and level appropriate materials to aid the learning process. Over past summers Yad Vashem has run both a training for teachers in Jewish Schools (both Day Schools and Supplemental Schools) as well as a course for teachers in sectarian schools.