Today was another jam-packed day of incredible speakers.  Professor Sam Kassow gave an eye-opening lecture on Jewish life in ghettos.  He talked about the Judentrat, the Jewish governments of the ghettos, and the challenges they faced.  Professor Kassow also talked about Jewish resistance movements – there were many forms of resistance and Jews were forced to make “choiceless choices” to try to survive.

In the afternoon, scholar and survivor Dr. Nechama Tec spoke about her story of survival,  and her books on rescue.  Professor Tec talked about how she was able to survive by being hidden by Christians who were paid, and also by pretending to be a Christian.  Many of our teachers have already ordered a few of Professor Tec’s well-known books!

To close the day, I spoke on Rescue and teaching Rescue in context.  It is critical to teach about these Christian and Muslim heroes, who so courageously risked their lives to save Jews.  Keeping rescue in context is critical in order to understand the gravity of their actions. 

Tonight we ended with our closing dinner at Bello Restaurant, where we enjoyed a delicious meal and warm conversation.  Some wonderful friendships have been made, and I am so glad that participants want to stay in touch with each other not only as colleagues but also as friends.

This past week I attended the Association of Holocaust Organization’s (AHO) annual meeting in Omaha, NE.  In addition to meeting colleagues and exchanging ideas, a highlight of the seminar was Doris Bergen’s lecture on “Holocaust Survivors and Holocaust Scholars: A Changing and Challenging Relationship”. 

Leaving the meeting a day early, on Tuesday, I flew to Tampa, FL with my final destination being the Florida Holocaust Museum in St. Petersburg.  Tuesday evening three Alfred Lerner Fellows, Larry Grimes, Kinnan Johnston, and Jenieff Watson, made outstanding presentations to the teachers participating in the Florida Holocaust Museum’s teacher’s institute.  On Wednesday morning I met with the teachers and we spent a full morning learning about the rescue of Jews by non-Jews during the Holocaust.  I discussed why the teachers should include a lesson on rescue in their unit of study and how to teach the subject of rescue to their students.  The presentation was followed by excellent questions and great participation.