Holocaust Educator Study Tour

About

As part of the educational activities of the Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre, twenty Canadian educators took part in an intensive study tour to Vienna and Poland from July 2-12, 2013. The group toured sites of Jewish heritage, culture, and remembrance in addition to sites of destruction associated with the Holocaust. 

In Austria, participants visited Schloss Hartheim which was notorious for being one of the Nazi “euthanasia” killing centres, and the Mauthausen concentration camp. Through a generous cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture, participants engaged in dialogue with pedagogical experts on issues related to teaching the Holocaust. It provided an important opportunity for participants to engage in discussions with educational officials, classroom educators as well as members of the Austrian delegation to the IHRA.  

A highlight for many participants was a scheduled meeting with 96-year-old Edeltrud Becher Posiles, the last known living Austrian to be awarded the distinction of Righteous Among the Nations. Becher Posiles offered sanctuary to three Jews during the Holocaust, risking her own life in doing so. She graciously agreed to meet the group when she learnt they would be coming from Canada to learn about issues of the Holocaust, Jewish heritage and culture.

While in Poland, participants visited Auschwitz-Birkenau and Krakow where they met with IHRA expert Dr. Piotr Trojanski of the Pedagogical University. A key component of each segment of this study tour is to meet classroom educators and pedagogical experts so that learning follows a layered approach. Participants encountered first-hand the sites of Jewish culture and memory as well as tragedy, and engaged in discussions with academics and educators about current methodologies for teaching the Holocaust.

Study Tour Participants represent all segments of Canada’s education system including middle and high school teachers in both the public and Catholic school systems, as well as school board officials. Geographically, the program includes teachers from Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. 

A unique educational program that brings teachers, teacher candidates and faculty to sites of Jewish memory in Austria and Poland. Holocaust Educator Study Tours are funded in part by private donors, so we are able to offer scholarships to qualifying teachers. The program is limited to 24 teacher participants and is led by professional Holocaust educators and, where possible, a Holocaust survivor. Thanks to the support of our donors, the Study Tour ran in July 2013.

By visiting historic sites of destruction (Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek and Mauthausen), of Jewish culture (Lublin Yeshiva) and of rescue (Schindler’s Factory) participants actively encounter living history. These encounters are supplemented with pedagogical methods and expertise to enable participants to teach about the Holocaust in new and meaningful ways when they return to their classrooms.

The program has previously been offered in 2005, 2008 and 2010 with participants from all parts of Canada.

THANK YOU to the 2012 Ride 2 Remember

The Jewish Motorcyclists Alliance (JMA) designated the Holocaust Educators’ Study Tour the recipient of the 2012 Ride 2 Remember (R2R) fundraising initiative. The Holocaust Educators' Study Tour, which is organized under the auspices of the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre, brings Canadian educators to Europe to learn about the Holocaust so that they may impart their knowledge and experience to their students.

The JMA held the 8^th annual and first Canadian R2R in Toronto on June 1, 2012. The Ride to Remember honours the memory of those that perished in the Holocaust. Every R2R is a fundraising effort the goal of which is to fund Holocaust education at local community centers, schools, museums, universities and colleges throughout the world. The JMA believes that we can make an important difference in the lives of the world’s future leaders by teaching the lessons of the Holocaust for the benefit of humanity.

The Neuberger expresses sincere and heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in the JMA and the R2R. Your dedication to Holocaust education and remembrance has been instrumental in allowing us to offer the program again in 2013.

It’s not too late to make a donation towards the 2013 Holocaust Educators’ Study Tour:

Click here to make a contribution to the 2012 Ride to Remember in support of future Holocaust Educators Study Tours.