Yad Vashem Summer Seminars Attract Educators from Around the World

"This was a truly exceptional seminar.  It brought order to what I already know while enriching it intelligently." Participant in Seminar for Belgian Educators, July 2014

This summer, despite the difficult situation here in Israel, hundreds of educators from across the globe attended conferences and seminars at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies.  This week alone, some fifty educators from Estonia and Portugal are attending seminars here on campus, and last week, the annual International Summer Seminar for educators took place as planned.

The seminars left an indelible impression on these educators who came from across the globe to take part in the programs of the International School for Holocaust Studies. For many it was an unforgettable personal experience. One summer seminar participant from Serbia, remarked “It was my first time to hear a Holocaust survivor. She spoke about the unspeakable and we were listening to the "unlistenable." Yet, she handled her shocking story in a kind of way that very few of us expected. She always upheld her humanity.”

Additionally, hundreds of educators attended the 9th International Educators' Conference as well as intensive seminars here on the campus. Participants hailed from Canada, the US, Australia, Poland, Serbia, Czech Republic, China,Finland, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Estonia, Germany, France, Ireland, Portugal, Serbia and more.  The educators had the opportunity to network with colleagues, dialogue with top educators, researchers and historians, meet Holocaust survivors, and explore the resources and museums at Yad Vashem, while experiencing the current situation along with Israeli colleagues.

Paulo Manuel Veira de Matos of Portugal remarked on the transformative influence of the seminar he attended, "I will never teach again the Holocaust as I did before I came to Yad Vashem." At the conclusion of the Seminar for Portuguese Educators, Anabela Vaz Jacinto commented "We have the committed  to being the ambassadors of the Shoah memory as educators and citizens of our country."

The 9^th International Conference on Holocaust Education is generously supported by the Adelson Family Foundation, the Asper Foundation and the Claims Conference.

The annual International Summer Seminar is generously supported by the Claims Conference.