Holocaust & Human Rights Teachers of America Symposium

The Holocaust did not happen overnight; nor did it occur in a vacuum. It resulted from a slow shift in the definition of what was already understood and accepted concepts of good and evil. The Holocaust, therefore, was possible not because Hitler was a charismatic speaker or a cruel dictator, but because so much of his party’s intellectual and therefore ethical construct was already familiar to the people of Europe. As a result, the people of Germany and the many Nazi party members and soldiers were not deficient in moral sensibilities nor were they quintessentially evil or brutal people; they were in fact ethically sensitive. For them, such deeds were simply no longer understood as evil. Herein lies the need for tolerance education. Through a thought-provoking study of the Holocaust and the social environment that led to it students can learn to counteract ignorance, brutality, and contempt fostered by intolerance as well as recognize the importance of following a moral compass that elevates the individual and the democratic values that nurture such a society.The Annual Holocaust Teachers of America Symposium is a  3 day intense teacher-created/ teacher-led professional development symposium where the participants gain priceless knowledge pertaining to the complex history of the Holocaust, 2000 years of Antisemitism in Europe, the roles of imperialism, colonialism, nationalism, economics, and democracy on the sociopolitical changes in Europe and how individuals were affected by these changes and how to accurately and appropriately bring these lessons to the 6-12 classroom.  At the core of it all are raw historical facts, 100% applicable meaningful age-appropriate lessons, and the support of interdisciplinary team teaching.

The Holocaust Teachers of America Symposium elevates, empowers, and enlightens classroom teachers through general and break-out sessions led by Holocaust survivors or their descendants and experienced classroom teachers like them to become advocates for academic integrity, democratic values, truth, historical accuracy, and compassionate communities in their schools.
 

The Holocaust & Human Rights Teachers of America Symposium is open to all teachers in grades 6 -12, interested parents, and community leaders from all backgrounds from any state in the United States of America, Canada, and Latin America. Teachers can be from private, public, religious, secular, or home-school settings and teach Language Arts, Social Studies, and creative electives.

​The Symposium strives to bring the same professionalism and academic integrity found at conferences for higher education professionals (i.e. scholars), to the K12 teacher. Through our Symposium teacher-attendees will become Holocaust & Human Rights Pedagogy Experts, network with each other and many other “experts” in the field from authors to artists, and revolutionize how the subject and its teachers are viewed by administrators, law-makers, and textbook publishers for decades to come.

For more information about the schedule and speakers etc:

https://zachorshoah.wixsite.com/symposium/home