New York, NY, January 30, 2009 … A group of U.S. college professors spent a week at the International School for Holocaust Studies (ISHS) at Yad Vashem in Israel learning about the Holocaust and issues of modern anti-Semitism.

They were part of the inaugural Echoes and Reflections Professors' Study Tour to Israel, an intensive weeklong program designed to enhance teachers' understanding of the Holocaust and foster their commitment to educating future teachers and their students about the subject.

Echoes and Reflections — A Multimedia Curriculum on the Holocaust, is a collaborative program developed by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the USC Shoah Foundation for Visual History and Education, and Yad Vashem - the Holocaust remembrance and education center in Jerusalem. 

The professors hailed from Iowa State University, Rider University (NJ), University of Montana, Wayne State College (NE), The College of New Jersey, University of Nevada - Las Vegas, University of Southern Indiana, St. Cloud University (MN), Kennesaw State University (GA), Richard Stockton College (NJ) and the Los Angeles Institute for Standards, Curricula and Assessment.

While at Yad Vashem, participants visited the Holocaust History Museum, met with Holocaust survivors, world-renowned historians, and pedagogical experts.   They also visited the Old City of Jerusalem and other important sites throughout the country.

"Being in Israel to study these topics really drives home the lessons learned," said Deborah A. Batiste, Project Director for Echoes and Reflections.  "We look forward to continuing our partnership with these professors as they bring the Echoes and Reflections curriculum to their home campuses."

Among the issues discussed were the challenges of teaching the Holocaust, the rise of modern anti-Semitism, Jewish armed resistance during the Holocaust, and the unprecedented nature of the Holocaust in an age of genocide.  Holocaust survivor Ruth Brand shared with the group her story of survival in the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.

On their return to their home campuses, participants work with their colleagues and with ADL regional offices to coordinate teacher training seminars and bring Echoes and Reflections programming to their campuses.

The Echoes and Reflections Program is funded by Dana and Yossie Hollander.  The 2009 Echoes and Reflections Study Seminar was funded by the Holocaust Studies Program for Training U.S. Educators, in Memory of Nathan Katz, Holocaust Survivor from Lithuania.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.