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 Sarah Pulliam, Social studies teacher, Portage High School (Portage, WI) | June 18, 2025

We departed the city of Linz, Austria with new insight into the impact the Anschluss had on the Jewish community in Linz. We settled in on the bus for our next destination Oswiecim, Poland. As I looked out on the beauty of the Austrian countryside, I felt a sense of unease. Having read numerous accounts of the Jewish transports, I couldn’t help but imagine the Jewish people struggling to look through the slats of the wooden cattle cars and seeing signs of each town they passed indicating the direction the train was heading. My emotions were running high as we approached the city of Oswiecim, Poland, knowing that our visit to Auschwitz was approaching.

We spent the day walking in the footsteps of the past, focusing on the deeply rooted Jewish communities that existed in Oswiecim, Bielsko-Blala, and Bedzin, Poland prior to WWII. We started with a tour of the Auschwitz Jewish Center, the Jewish Museum, and the only synagogue left in Oswiecim. Bridging the past with the present is the mission of the Auschwitz Jewish Center, and also my mission in the classroom. I want my students to understand the past in order to make connections with what they see happening in the world we live in today.

As we traveled down the road to Bielsko-Blala, our guide for the day Maciek Zabierowski pointed out Auschwitz I, from the bus window, the buildings and the barbed wire were shocking to see in the midst of the modern homes right on the perimeter of the camp. A pit has been growing in my stomach over the last 24 hours, in anticipation of our visit to Auschwitz.

We had a very pleasant and informative meeting with Mrs. Dorota Wiewiora, she has been the President of the local Jewish community in Bielsko-Ballard for 35 years. She has so much pride in the work being done in her community to build bridges between the Jewish community and the non-Jewish community. But, always looming in the shadows are people who want to silence the Jewish community. Therefore, safety and security are always factors when organizing events. It’s hard for me to grapple with the ongoing hate that exists in our society.

We made a stop at the home of Gerda Weissmann Klein, sadly her home is a pizzeria, and there is no mention of Gerda’s life in Bielsko-Blala, and her Holocaust experience. Standing in front of Gerda’s home, I was brought back to the questions we were asked to think about by Paul Salmons and Wolfgang Schultz, what do we choose to remember, and what do we choose not to remember? I use Gerda’s story on my classroom, her story has greatly impacted my students. Again, I ask, what do we choose to remember, and what do we choose to forget?

We also made a visit to Bedzin to visit several sites connected to Rutka Laskier often referred to as “The Polish Anne Frank,” but I promised a fellow participant I would leave that story for him.

After spending a day walking in the footsteps of the once thriving Jewish communities of Oswiecim, Bielsko-Blala, and Bedzin, Poland, I feel a sense of sadness. Sadness for the loss of the Jewish communities that prior to WWII thrived in Poland. Sadness for Gerda and Rutka, whose stories exist as memories on paper, with no representation in their own communities. But, with that sense of sadness, I feel empowered and motivated more than ever to teach the stories of the Holocaust in my classroom, and share my experience on this trip with as many people who are willing to listen. This trip has impacted me personally and professionally. I am incredibly grateful for the relationships that have been made on the trip, and wealth of new knowledge and experiences I will bring back to my students.