Despite the hostilities in the North, the summer semester at the International School for Holocaust Studies was full of activity. For the first time, the ICHEIC Program for Holocaust Education in Europe hosted at Yad Vashem educators from Greece as well as teachers from Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The Scandinavian group was organized in cooperation with the Danish Institute for International Studies, the Living History Forum from Sweden, the Swedish Committee against Antisemitism and The Center for Holocaust Studies and Religious Minorities in Norway. Educators from France, the UK, Germany, and Romania also visited Yad Vashem. All the seminar participants acquired historical knowledge, pedagogical and educational techniques especially suited to their countries’ needs, as well as books and materials to use with their students.

The First International ICHEIC Seminar for graduates of Yad Vashem seminars (2005) took place in September at the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. The 27 participants from throughout Europe spent five days of intense discussion together with members of the School’s European Department. Topics included: “How to address the need to combat antisemitism with students in the classroom;” “The Holocaust in art and literature;” “Jewish women and children in the camps;” and “The educational use of visits to memorial sites.” They also toured the Auschwitz-Birkenau site and took part in a moving meeting with survivors.

top