The power of place – we stood on the soil of the Holocaust
JCRC 2024 Power of Place has just concluded. This summer institute brought K-12 educators from our region and beyond to historical sites across Europe in order to transform their understanding of the Holocaust, WWII, antisemitism, and Jewish life today. The learning unfolded as participants journeyed from Warsaw to Berlin to Prague, empowering them to bring it home into their own classes.
"This has changed the way they've taught, and changed their lives," said Laura Zelle, who organized the trip as JCRC's outgoing Director of Holocaust Education together with Susie Greenberg, now JCRC's Director of Holocaust Education. "We have two teachers that participated for the second time because it was the most meaningful experience of their professional careers."
"Teachers can teach WWII and never talk about antisemitism or that it was against the Jews. It can be totally focused on military action. It could be completely different than what we think it should be, and so we're trying to grab their heart and soul so it becomes personal for them, and in a second they get it – they feel it in their bones."
In her second month as JCRC's Director of Holocaust Education, Susie Greenberg said, "We brought 18 educators on this trip independently from 6 different states and the group became cohesive – a testament to the framework of our tour which allowed for intimate and meaningful conversations. Participants said they chose Power of Place because of the unique opportunities we offered that didn’t exist in other tour itineraries."
"Feeling that physical and experiential growth and pain of being in these places was beyond what people had even expected it to be," said Susie. "Every single participant reflected how tremendous a learning experience this was."
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