TOLI provides professional development seminars for educators in the US and abroad that link the lessons of the Holocaust and other genocides to current world events, working with teachers to promote a human rights and social justice agenda in their classrooms.
The Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights
Summer Concludes With 12 Teacher Seminars Across the US
Over 150 educators took part in 12 professional development seminars across the US, many of them in-person following a year of virtual-only programs. 

The high turnout of participating educators was in response to the rising levels of hatred and intolerance seen in the US over the past year. These satellite programs took place in: Arizona, California, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia, and Wisconsin.


Click the link below for more information.

"In the future, I will be an ally. I will be cognizant of interrupting the cycles of hate. I will be brave. I will encourage my students not to give up when things are hard. I will encourage them over and over, “progress, not perfection.” -- Brandi Suazo, TOLI Montana participant

TOLI Flagship Program for Holocaust Educators Convened Online
TOLI’s flagship program for Holocaust educators, usually convened in New York at the Memorial Library, was held online from June 18-21, 2021, following a year of monthly virtual meetings. Participants met in small groups in breakout rooms, brainstormed ideas for action plans for the coming school year, and baked challah together. The virtual weekend included presentations by Andrea Pitzer, author of One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps, and representatives from the organizations Voice of Witness and Retro Report. This program encourages participants - middle school, high school, and college educators - to think creatively and collaboratively about how they teach about the Holocaust, genocide, and social justice.

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European Summer Seminars: Poland, Serbia, and Italy in August

Following successful teacher programs in Bulgaria and Romania in July, the fourth annual seminar for teachers in Poland is currently underway. The program operates in cooperation with POLIN - The Museum of the History of Polish Jews - and is running August 17-21, 2021. The inaugural seminar in Serbia will run August 22-26, 2021, followed by the third annual educator seminar in Italy, August 29-September 2, 2021. The rest of the international programs, which include Greece, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain, and Ukraine, will take place throughout the fall and into early 2022.


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TOLI in the News

TOLI Satellite Seminars were featured in local media during the summer. Click the links below to read articles about the programs in Oregon and Virginia.

Clackamas County educators implement Holocaust curriculum

By Jaelen Ogadhoh

Two Clackamas County educators are attending a five-day seminar focused on implementing Holocaust education and other instruction on racial and ethnic discrimination in Oregon. 
Educator program explores effects of Holocaust, racial injustice

By John Battiston

Last week, Loudoun County Public Schools partnered with The Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Education (TOLI) to conduct a seminar exploring the Holocaust and Virginia’s history of racial injustice.


TOLI Alumnus Awarded Rolfs Educational Foundation Outstanding Teacher
Congratulations to Scott Lone, West Bend East High School teacher and longtime co-leader of the TOLI Satellite Seminar in Wisconsin, for winning the Rolfs Educational Foundation Outstanding Teacher Award in 2021. In 2016 Lone attended the TOLI Leadership Institute, and he established the Satellite Seminar in Wisconsin the following year. The seminar, Looking to the Past to Envision the Future: Holocaust Education and Lessons for Today, ran from July 26-30 as a virtual program. As Lone observes: “When teachers have access to outstanding professional development and other resources, they learn more, they know more, and they do better as teachers. TOLI has helped its teachers do all of that.”

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Become a Monthly Sustainer Today
TOLI relies on the support of individuals and foundations in order to continue helping thousands of teachers educate their students about the Holocaust and against hate and intolerance. Please consider becoming a monthly sustainer today at www.tolinstitute.org. Your monthly gift to TOLI will make a difference for teachers and students around the country and around the world. All donations are fully tax deductible in the United States.

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