Since 2018, TOLI organizes a yearly Holocaust and human rights education seminar for educators in partnership with Memoshoà – Association for Remembering and Teaching the Holocaust. TOLI’s Portugal Seminar brings together 30 teachers from across the Azores to explore the importance of Holocaust and human rights education.
Through interdisciplinary methodology, teachers will learn how to use the lens of human rights to help their students understand how atrocities, like the Holocaust, are possible.
Highlights from previous seminars include:
- In-depth exploration of Portugal’s unique Holocaust history, including a profile of Aristides de Sousa Mendez, a Portuguese diplomat who against government orders, issued 10,000 transit visas for Jewish refugees, the community of Portuguese crypto-Jews, and the revival of Porto’s Jewish community
- Testimonies of Holocaust survivors and descendants of survivors in Portugal
- Guided tours of local sites, including former Jewish neighborhoods, synagogues, and museums
- Interactive, collaborative workshops on engaging students’ interest in the Holocaust and promoting the value of human dignity and diversity
The seminar follows the core methodology of TOLI, starting with a workshop on identity and the role stereotypes and prejudices play in shaping identities and intercultural relations. It includes lectures about the role of Portugal during the Holocaust, recent research about Portuguese in the Nazi concentration camps, and memory and remembrance.
The objective of the seminar is to:
- Develop participants’ awareness of historical and current dialectical discussions concerning the Holocaust and other instances of social injustice
- Further participants’ understanding of the impact of stereotypes, prejudice, and individual, group, and societal discrimination
- Deepen participants’ knowledge of Jewish life before and after the Holocaust
- Increase participants’ appreciation for innovative, student-centered teaching methods, including extra-curricular activities and partnerships between schools and other institutions and organizations
- Promote an interdisciplinary approach to Holocaust and human rights education
Impact Grants
Graduates of the seminar have the opportunity to apply for a impact grant to support a project related to Holocaust education and social justice. The grant consists of financial support and continuous mentorship throughout the school year.