Over 50 TOLI regional Teacher Leaders convened in Atlanta in July for a special conference to share ideas, best practices and challenges they now face in teaching in a polarized society. 

They explored new trends in antisemitism, including Holocaust distortion and how to help students recognize it. The educators also spent a day in Montgomery, Alabama, visiting the Legacy Museum, the Peace and Justice Memorial, and the recently-opened Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, gaining a clearer foundation on the history and consequences of slavery in America. The conference provided the opportunity to celebrate Sondra Perl on her retirement from TOLI, and to welcome our new US Program Director, Andrea Elliott.

TOLI Leaders tour "The Absence of Humanity" exhibit at The Breman Museum in Atlanta, Georgia.

TOLI Leaders visit the Legacy Museum

in Montgomery, Alabama.

In-person TOLI seminars have been taking place this summer in California, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Virginia/DC, and Wisconsin.

In each four- or five-day program, teachers were guided in the TOLI pedagogy of inquiry-based learning and reflective writing to help them explore not just what happened in the Holocaust, but why it happened. Participants heard from survivors and scholars and engaged in experiential field trips in each location, including visits to Holocaust museums, the National WWII Museum, and historic sites that document the history of discrimination against Native Americans, African Americans, and Japanese Americans. All TOLI seminars included a meeting with a rabbi at a synagogue where participants learned about Jewish religion and culture. 

"We believe Holocaust education is one of the most effective ways to counter antisemitism and other forms of hatred. Our seminars encourage critical thinking about the ultimate consequences of prejudice and discrimination when individuals are indifferent or silent."



- Deborah Lauter, TOLI Executive Director

The National WWII Museum hosted the TOLI seminar in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Minnesota seminar participants visited the Dakota sites of Oȟéyawahe (Pilot Knob), Hoċokata Ti, and Bdóte.

TOLI piloted We Remember, a seminar specifically tailored for Catholic school educators.

Eighteen teachers from across the US attended the program at the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, CA, and learned about the history of anti-Judaism. Some sessions were co-taught by Father Dennis McManus and Rabbi David Fox Sandmel, both internationally-recognized leaders in Catholic-Jewish relations. The program was co-sponsored by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, the California Teachers Cooperative for Holocaust and Genocide Education, and the Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation. 

Rabbi Mark Bloom of Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland, CA with participants of TOLI's pilot program for Catholic school educators.

Participation in our Holocaust and Human Rights program has never been greater.

This summer, we added four new seminars: Albania, Georgia, Slovakia, and Hungary, made possible with assistance from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and supported by the German Federal Ministry of Finance and the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future.

This year, TOLI national seminars are also held in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine.

In April, a transnational seminar bringing TOLI alumni from throughout Europe also took place in Croatia.

"It is very important to teach the Holocaust in Hungary, where over 440,000 Jews were murdered. This program, like others we organize in Europe, enables teachers to learn about Jewish heritage and antisemitism, and acquire the competences to teach the Holocaust and apply its lessons in their classrooms.”

- Mark Berez, TOLI President

TOLI President Mark Berez delivers opening remarks at TOLI seminar in Hungary.

Teachers gather in Bulgaria for our seminar, "Learning From The Past - Acting For The Future."

The Olga Lengyel Institute, based in New York, is a recognized leader of Holocaust and human rights professional development education for teachers throughout the US and Europe. Inspired by the legacy and work of Olga Lengyel, author of “Five Chimneys: A Woman Survivor’s True Story of Auschwitz,” TOLI provides educators with the knowledge and skills they need to make the Holocaust relevant for today’s students.