The JFR Summer Institute for Teachers

by Lauren Crampton

I had the opportunity to attend the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous Summer Institute for Teachers at the Hilton Newark Airport from June 22 through June 26 in New Jersey along with 21 Holocaust educators from around the country. It was a five-day intensive academic seminar covering the complex history of the Holocaust and discussing new teaching techniques for introducing the subject of the Holocaust into their classrooms. We heard lectures from renowned Holocaust scholars Doris Bergen of the University of Toronto, Volker Berghahn of Columbia University, Lawrence R. Douglas of Amherst College, Steven Field of New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, Daniel Green of Northwestern University; Avinoam Patt of New York University; Richards Plavnieks of Florida Southern College, Robert Jan van Pelt of the University of Waterloo, Edward B. Westermann of Texas A&M University, Holocaust historian and exhibition curator Paul Salmons, author Alexandra Zapruder, and American Jewish Committee U.S. Director for Combatting Antisemitism Holly Huffnagle.

Participants met in small groups following each lecture to address the specific aspect of the Holocaust that is presented, and to share teaching concepts and develop approaches for introducing the subject matter to students. Teachers in the program must be English or social studies teachers at the middle or high school level, have taught for at least five years, are at least five years from retirement, and currently teach the Holocaust in their classroom. I found these curriculum brainstorming sessions and presentations with teachers and museum educators to be equally as valuable as the academic lectures from the scholars. I now have a greater understanding of how the teachers in Florida approach this material.

According to JFR Executive Vice-President, Stanlee Stahl, “The three primary goals are to provide teachers with a graduate-level course on antisemitism and the Holocaust, empower educators to develop pedagogical connections with other teachers and equip these teachers with additional resources to bring back to their classrooms.” The lectures were structured around texts from the anthology, How Was It Possible? edited and introduced by renowned Holocaust scholar Peter Hayes. This anthology is organized around key issues of the Holocaust, ranging from the historical context for antisemitism to the impediments to escaping Nazi Germany, and from the logistics of the death camps and the carrying out of genocide to the subsequent struggles of the displaced survivors, while “deliberately resisting the reflexive urge to dismiss the topic as too horrible to be understood intellectually or emotionally.”

A recurring theme in all the lectures was the necessity for visual literacy and a object and artifact-based curriculum. It is the moral obligation of every individual to collect and record the evidence of the past to combat the denial of history and protect the memory of the victims and survivors. The experience of preparation for and participation in the Summer Institute for Teachers gave me the resources and tools to building a foundation for providing accessible and accurate Holocaust education. What this experience masterfully wove together was a vocabulary to translate the complex history of the Holocaust into clear language to teach to any education or experience level. In the age of social media and digital manipulation of images and the visual historical record, it is imperative to discern the authentic from the fraudulent and distorted imagery online. Leading lessons with visual analysis of objects and images, guided by the spirit of investigating the truth as accurately and honestly as possible, is the most effective means of growing awareness and understanding and empathy. The experiences at the JFR Summer Institute for Teachers made an indelible impression on me and my plans for educational development at HERC.