Last week 24 educators from the United Kingdom participated in a special seminar at the International School for Holocaust Studies. During an intense 10 days they experienced in-depth tours of the Museums of Yad Vashem, dialogued with top Holocaust historians and educators, and met with Holocaust survivors. Described by one participant as “Informative; academically exhilarating, historically enthralling”, seminars like these help educators gain both a greater understanding of the events of the Holocaust and also how to meaningfully transmit this chapter of history in the classroom.
At the conclusion of the seminar one participant noted, “The Holocaust is not just a historical event - but ongoing affecting lives, societies and governments. I developed an increased understanding of the importance of evidence - without it, history would be impoverished but the pursuit of justice in the present would be almost impossible.”
Here's a perspective from seminar participant Rosalyn McClymont, who wrote about it in the Times of Israel: Yad Vashem’s lesson on the Holocaust for rural England
This summer, hundreds of educators from the UK, Italy, Romania, Lithuania, Austria, Germany, Poland, Mexico, Belgium, Spain, the United States, Canada, Greece, France, Croatia, South Africa, Latin America, Portugal, Switzerland, Serbia, Ireland, Australia and Estonia participated in 10-21 day seminars at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies. Another 355 formal and informal educators from 53 different countries participated in the International Conference on Holocaust Education in the beginning of June.
