Each year, the Association of Holocaust Organizations, an international network of more than 130 organizations, hosts a summer conference devoted to the advancement of Holocaust education, remembrance and research. Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center is a proud member of this amazing group of educators, scholars and institutional leaders.
This year’s conference was held in Toronto, Ontario, and I was honored to be there for this three-day intensive conference hosted by the Toronto Holocaust Museum, the Azrieli Foundation and Liberation 75. Our sessions put us in conversation with museum directors and educators from across Canada and brought us to the Royal Ontario Museum to tour “Auschwitz: Not Long Ago, Not Far Away” with the exhibit designers, historians and experts behind the creation of this amazing traveling exhibit. We also screened the new documentary, “All I Had Was Nothingness,” and learned about a new virtual tour format, “Auschwitz in Front of Your Eyes.”
But I can say with certainty that for the majority of those in attendance, the most important session was a special convening: Holocaust Education in the Wake of October 7th. In this session, introduced and co-moderated by my friend and colleague Talli Dippold, panelists from the leading Holocaust education programs discussed the challenges faced in this field in the wake of October 7th…