Category Archives: TOLI in the News
EdWeek: Teaching the Holocaust Is Daunting—But Critical
Read TOLI Executive Director Deborah Lauter’s Op-Ed, “Teaching the Holocaust is Daunting–But Critical” that appeared in the national publication, Education Week, in conjunction with International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27. Read more in Education Week>>
Read MoreRNS: Teaching teachers about the Holocaust and its lessons for democracy today
The Olga Lengyel Institute trains schoolteachers to view the Holocaust as a prism for understanding social injustice, bigotry and hatred. Read more in Religion News Service>>
Read MoreTOLI-Supported Project Wins International Discovery Award
The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes honored a Nebraska high school student with the 2022 International Discovery Award for a TOLI-supported project. Gracie Conrad, a junior at Loup County High School won the award for her film documenting Betty Goudsmit-Oudkerk, an unsung hero from the Holocaust. Conrad’s teacher Meagan McNeil Heilberg, participated in the […continue]
Read MoreYear-End Reflection from TOLI Executive Director, Deborah Lauter

I first learned about the Holocaust in my ninth grade world history class in Sacramento. My teacher put a picture of Hitler up on a screen, pointed at me and said, “You’re a Jew. Tell the class about the Holocaust.” You can imagine my humiliation at being singled out in that way—compounded with the fact that […continue]
Read MoreTOLI Seminar Leader Nicole Korsen’s Lesson Featured in PBS Documentary

Nicole Korsen is an English teacher at Dominion High School in Sterling, Virginia, and one of TOLI’s Satellite Seminar leaders. She created the lesson “The Symbolism of the Statue of Liberty” featured in the new Ken Burns PBS documentary “The U.S. and the Holocaust”. Find “The Symbolism of the Statue of Liberty” on PBS here>> […continue]
Read MoreMassLive: Ken Burns Holocaust documentary raises important questions, say survivors, educators
Ken Burns’ new PBS documentary offers a multi-layered look into a democracy built on immigration and egalitarianism likely to resonant with viewers as those interviewed discuss anti-Semitism, racism and authoritarianism in the country when the Nazis rose to power in Germany and began to introduce anti-Jewish legislation and propagate hatred against the Jewish population. Educator Cara Crandall […continue]
Read MoreNew York’s former hate crimes czar has a new mission: teaching the Holocaust
Three years after her appointment as the head of the brand-new office, Lauter stepped down in March to take a new job as executive director of the Olga Lengyel Instute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights, or TOLI, a New York-based nonprofit that promotes Holocaust education. Read more in the JTA>>
Read MoreNew Mexico Jewish News Mentions TOLI
This June, a group of 14 teachers from around the state met for a week-long seminar, Teaching the Holocaust for Social Justice. This was the 9th year for the seminar, which is sponsored by the Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies, headquartered in New York, and which conducts Holocaust education programs for teachers throughout the […continue]
Read MoreDetroit Jewish News: Understanding Jewish Philanthropy
Samantha Caminker, a sophomore at Frankel Jewish Academy, writes how she presented $5,000 in grant money to two nonprofits as part of the Morris J. & Betty Kaplun Foundation Youth Board. Read more in the Detroit Jewish News>>
Read MoreEducators from Across US Gather in NY for Program on Holocaust Education at Time of Rising Extremism
New York City, NY – 20 educators from 15 US states along with two teachers from the EU are now in New York City for an advanced program on teaching Holocaust history and human rights from July 5-16. The seminar takes place at a time when hate crimes and extremism are on the rise, and […continue]
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