This blog was written on Power of Place: 2025 European Summer Institute for Holocaust Educators – an experiential professional development for teachers where learning unfolds as they tour historical sites across Europe in order to transform their understanding of the Holocaust, WWII, antisemitism, and Jewish life today. Power of Place is planned and co-led by Humanus Network on behalf of JCRC and generously supported by the Minnesota Vikings, the Tankenoff Families Foundation, and Allianz of America Corporation.

by Meg O’Brien, History teacher, The Bement School (Deerfield, MA) | June 23, 2025

How do you sum up 12 days of life changing moments? As we spend our final day in the city of Rome, I think back to all that our group has done in our time in Europe. On June 14th our group met — some knew each other, many were strangers — and now all are leaving as friends and respected colleagues.

The Power of Place has lived up to its mission in so many ways. Traveling to Austria, Poland and finishing in Italy we have experienced all of the elements from rainy and overcast to the sweltering heat. We have walked through historical sites, heard countless stories by world renowned Holocaust historians and met the family members of Holocaust survivors. Each moment building on the last, weaving a story together that provided us with so much information. Information that I feel I will not be able to truly process until I return home and have time to reflect.

In all the hard moments, our group leaned on each other for support, tears shed together, vulnerability laid open because of the comfort we had with each other. In the countless PD opportunities I have attended, I can honestly say that I have never been part of a group that has become this close and comfortable in such a short time. Much of this I connect to the way in which Paul and Wolfgang guided our group in Austria. I also owe it to our three group leaders, Kristin, Susie and Laura.

For me, this was my first trip focusing on Holocaust Education. I valued the way in which we learned, and I valued the ability to be with fellow educators who had a desire to learn but also teach one another.

Our trip has finally come to an end in Rome, a city many of us were excited to visit and learn the history of. Once again, we built on the continued narrative. Visiting the Ardeatine Caves, where 335 male citizens of Rome, both Christian and Jewish, were rounded up and murdered by the SS as retaliation for a Partisan ambush. We saw the names and pictures of those men, learning their stories and standing in that space made us all take a moment to pause. The brutality of the Nazis was once again a topic we had to confront. This story line, as much of this trip proved, wove through the narrative of our trip to the Papal Palace, and even more so on our walking tour the next day.

As we learned about the role of the Catholic Church and the actions of Pope Pius XII, and his neutrality to speak out, I once again thought back to the start of our trip. I asked myself how could millions of people be murdered in the midst of society? The Power of Place has helped us to begin to answer that question, though I believe it will never be completely answered.

All I do know is because of this trip and these people who were thrown into my life for 12 short days, I am better equipped to go back to my students. I now have 24 friends who will be there to support me when needed, who can reflect on this life changing experience, and be a support for one another. This group laughed together, cried together, had hard conversations together and, last night, had moments of joy as we cooked a meal together in the hills of Italy. The Power of Place is connected to the locations we visited but it also is connected to the people who are in that moment, and I leave today with a full heart and a sense to honor The Power of Place in my classroom.