March 19–20, 2025
Location: Viterbo University Fine Arts Center FSPA Lobby
Keynote Speaker: Peter Feigl, Holocaust Survivor
2025 Workshop Schedule
More than ever, it is important to teach about the Holocaust to prevent atrocities from being repeated. Thus, the educators' workshop will empower middle and high school teachers who want to learn more about teaching the lessons of the Holocaust in their schools and will feature national and local Holocaust scholars. "To be exposed to Holocaust scholars working in this field and survivors who bring an immediacy to the subject is key,” says Bill Younglove, instructor and teacher supervisor at California State University, Long Beach. “Area teachers are no doubt the chief beneficiaries, but the community at large should consider itself fortunate to have such an ongoing program in its midst."
2025 Workshop Presenters:
- Darryle Clott
- Peter Feigl
- Steve Feinberg
- Maureen Freedland
- Dana Humphrey
- Jon Reiner
- Karen Shawn
- Hallie Weibel
About Peter Feigl, Keynote Speaker
In summer 1942, the Vichy government, in collaboration with the Nazis, began rounding up Jews and deporting them to German concentration camps in Poland. Unbeknownst to Feigl who was in a Quaker summer camp, his parents were arrested and deported to Auschwitz where they were killed within a month of their arrival. With help, Peter was eventually given false identity papers and sent as a boarding student to a high school in Figeac, France. After escaping arrest in May 1944 when Germans raided Figeac, Peter escaped to neutral Switzerland over barbed wire fences with the help of the Jewish underground.
Feigl will give two presentations. The first is a keynote presentation on Wednesday, March 19 at 7 p.m. at the Viterbo University Fine Arts Center Main Theatre and will be livestreamed on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/viterboethics. This presentation is open to the public and no registration nor ticket is required. All are welcome.
The second presentation is a school show. This ticket-only presentation in partnership with Arts for Young America is Thursday, March 20 at 10 a.m. NOTE: Due to high demand, the Arts for Young America school show will ONLY be available to educators who enroll in Viterbo’s annual Teaching the Holocaust Workshop. Registration for the educators’ workshop goes live on Oct. 1, 2024. AFTER registering for the workshop, please send an email to Jill Miller (jmmiller@viterbo.edu) with your name, school, contact information, and the number of students you would like to attend the program. Jill will put your school on a list for seating at the program. Those who register first will have priority reserving seats for their students.
Teaching Resources
Squirrel is Alive Teaching Guide
The educational content for Squirrel is Alive includes interactive materials for classroom use. Strategies for before, during, and after reading includes discussion questions, writing prompts, and classroom extensions allowing students to engage directly with the text and understand both the historical context and the contemporary application of the book. The materials are designed for middle school and high school use, and will align to national standards and best teaching practices.