For International Seminar Graduates Transnational Leadership Seminar (Offered in English)
Each year, TOLI’s International team organizes a Transnational Seminar that brings together TOLI alumni from across all International countries where our programs operate. To date, these seminars have been held in Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Romania, Croatia, Spain, Germany, and online in 2020.
This year, our Transnational Seminar, “Learning From The Past – Acting For The Future: Teaching the Holocaust Through the Lens of Women’s Resistance and Human Rights,” took place in Vilnius, Lithuania from April 24-26, and hosted 29 teachers from 14 countries.
We explored topics including “Women of Valor” (Peninah Zilberman, Tarbut Foundation Director), “Heroines of the Holocaust” (Lori Weintrob, Wagner College Holocaust Center Director), “Teaching About Inspiring Women: Resistors and Rescuers” (Oana Nestian-Sandu, TOLI International Programs Director), “Creating a Lasting Culture of Holocaust and Human Rights Education in Schools” (Oana Bajka, TOLI International Programs Associate Director), and “Why Teachers are Best Positioned to Counter Antisemitism” (Deborah Lauter, TOLI Executive Director).
With Ingrida Vilkiene (International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania), who was instrumental in organizing this seminar, we embarked upon a walking tour of Jewish Vilna through the lens of women resistors and rescuers, and a guided visit of the Ponary Memorial through the lens of human rights and human dignity. We also heard from Faina Kukliansky (Lithuanian Jewish Community Chairperson), on her experience as the daughter of Holocaust survivors.
A highlight of the seminar was the presentation of projects developed through the TOLI Impact Grant Program. Teachers shared a wide range of initiatives — from classroom activities and community exhibitions to collaborations with local institutions. These projects have already reached hundreds of students, parents, and members of local communities, contributing to stronger, more meaningful Holocaust education and reinforcing a culture of remembrance, critical thinking, and respect for human dignity across diverse contexts.
This was TOLI’s 7th Transnational Seminar, which provides an opportunity for teachers who have previously attended TOLI’s regional International Seminars to share the work they are undertaking in their respective countries, and explore best practices and the challenges they face.
We are grateful for this partnership with the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania and the Lithuanian Jewish Community. This seminar was co-funded by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, supported by the German Federal Ministry of Finance, and by the European Union through the CARE Project: Combating Holocaust Denial and Distortion through Active Citizenship, Remembrance and Education.
This seminar is organized with assistance from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and supported by the German Federal Ministry of Finance.
Leaders
Oana Bajka
Oana Bajka is the Associate Director of International Programs at The Olga Lengyel Institute. She has over 10 years of experience working with teachers, young people and people from minority communities, especially migrants and Roma, in intercultural education and community development projects. She is in charge of the TOLI Impact Grants Program for European teachers, working with several hundred teachers who are graduates of TOLI seminars in Europe and qualify to apply for the annual impact grant program.
Oana Nestian-Sandu
Oana Nestian-Sandu is the International Program Director of The Olga Lengyel Institute. She has a Ph.D. in social psychology and a vast experience working as a teacher trainer in several European countries and in the United States. She is an international expert in intercultural education and human rights education, having worked as a trainer and researcher for the Intercultural Institute of Timisoara and as a consultant for the Council of Europe and for the United Nations. Oana developed TOLI’s programming in Europe since 2014, conducting training for teachers in multiple countries and supporting teachers in implementing local projects with their students.