“Space stands as a witness to what happened.”
~ Yitskhok Rudashevski
What People Are Saying
“It was unlike any PD I've ever encountered. This isn't just a historical tour; it's an immersive journey that deeply enriches your understanding & teaching of the Holocaust. The program is expertly designed, providing not just historical content but also concrete strategies to bring this complex subject-matter back to your students.” — Casey, Teacher from CO“The facilitators created an environment of security, community, transparency, & support. There was a deep interconnectedness and sense of family throughout the experience. I can say with confidence that I left the trip with lifelong friends. We had a common mission / connection that made for courageous dialogue.”— Peg, Teacher from MN“This is the finest Holocaust-related professional development that I know of today. Other PD programs are amazing, but just as the name implies, there is a “Power of Place." To learn this information and these teaching strategies in the locations where the events happened gives us a richer understanding to take back to our classrooms and students.” — Dave, Teacher from IDPower of Place®: European Summer Institute for Holocaust Educators
Power of Place® is a deeply immersive learning experience for Holocaust educators that brings history into sharp focus through firsthand engagement with authentic sites across Europe. In the absence of survivors, these landscapes stand as witnesses, grounding educators in documented evidence, historical accuracy, and the lived realities of Jewish life, persecution, resistance, and memory. Through expert facilitation, primary‑source inquiry, & structured reflection, participants confront what is present to commemorate AND what is absent — gaining a deeper understanding of the Holocaust and the responsibility of teaching it with clarity, integrity, and humanity.
Special guest & acclaimed author of Salvaged Pages: Young Writers’ Diaries of the Holocaust, Alexandra Zapruder, is traveling with us as we follow in the footsteps of several diarists.
LITHUANIA: Vilnius ~ Yitzhak Rudashevki, YIVO, Choral Synagogue, Ponar Forest; Seduva ~ Lost Shtetl Museum; Kaunas ~ Sugihara House, Ninth Fort, Ohel Yakov Choral Synagogue, Kaunas Ghetto, Ilya Gerber
POLAND: Lodz - Minia Kuper (formerly Anonymous Girl), Abram Isaac Laski (formerly Anonymous Boy), Bodzentyn - Dawid Rubinowicz, Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, Krakow
NETHERLANDS: Jewish Quarter, National Monument Camp Vught, Portuguese Synagogue, Anne Frank House & special session with Curators, Private Canal Cruise
2026
AUSTRIA: Renownedscholar & expert, Paul Salmons - Participant Centered Pedagogy, Linz, Hartheim Memorial Castle (T4 Experiments), Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial
POLAND: Oświęcim, Bielsko-Biala - Gerda Weissmann Klein’s hometown & experience, Bedzin - Rudka Laskier (Polish Anne Frank), Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial & Museum, Krakow
ITALY: Fosse Ardeatine Caves Massacre Memorial,Castel Gandolfo, Vatican Archives with expert, Dr. Suzanne Brown-Fleming, Collegio Militare in the Palazzo Salviati in Trastevere (site of Oct. 16, 1943 round-ups), Pizza and Pasta Master Class with Wine and Tiramisu
2025
POLAND: Warsaw, Jewish Quarter, Umschlagplatz, Jewish cemetery, Treblinka, Zabinski Villa (Warsaw Zoo), ZIH - Oneg Shabbat, POLIN, Yahad-In Unum, Lodz ghetto
GERMANY: Berlin, Babelplatz, Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Topography of Terror, Reichstag, Jewish Berlin, Kindertransport, Sachsenhausen, Platform 17, Wannsee Haus
CZECH REPUBLIC: Jewish Quarter, Terezin, Lidice, met with Nick Winton (Kindertransport), Private River Cruise
2024
GERMANY: Regensburg, Jewish Quarter, Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial, Munich, Beer Hall Putsch, White Rose Resistance, Nuremberg, Nazi Party Rally Grounds, Palace of Justice
POLAND: Krakow, Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial & Museum, Remah Synagogue, Krakow Ghetto, Plaszow Concentration Camp, Old Town, JCC meeting survivor - Zosia Radzikowska, Oskar Schindler factory
NORWAY: Norwegian Center for Holocaust Studies (Vidkun Quisling house), Oslo Jewish Museum - met survivor, Norway’s Resistance Museum, Akershus Fortress, Fjord dinner cruise
2023
