Events

Join the Virginia Holocaust Museum and the Institute for Curriculum Services for an online workshop focused on examining the history of European antisemitism. Where does antisemitism come from? This is a question that students frequently ask when learning about the Holocaust. Antisemitism (anti-Judaism before the modern era) is over 2,000 years old, but courses that cover the Holocaust often do not consider pre-20th century history. This session outlines the larger context of antisemitism throughout Europe and offers the content teachers need to help students understand the origins and history of the “longest hatred”. The session will examine the four intersecting historical forms of antisemitism – religious, economic, socio-political, and racial. This workshop is free for educators, and a certificate of attendance is emailed upon completion. Register by clicking HERE. Deadline for Registration is October 9th, 2025. Questions?  Please contact Megan Ferenczy mferenczy@vaholocaust.org   

Join the Virginia Holocaust Museum and Facing History & Ourselves for a day of professional learning focused on building classroom community through civil discourse. During this one-day workshop, educators will explore resources and tools that help students build the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to participate in democracy. The program is designed to support ELA and Social Studies teachers in creating caring classroom communities that foster civil discourse while engaging deeply with meaningful content. Whether discussing identity, justice, historical legacies, or contemporary challenges, this workshop will help educators feel more confident guiding students through conversations that build both academic and emotional intelligence. This workshop includes: Breakfast, Coffee, and Lunch Educator Resources A certificate of attendance Register HERE! Location: The MacArthur Memorial 198 Bank St, Norfolk, VA 23510 About Facing History and Ourselves:   Facing History & Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to racism, antisemitism, and other forms of bigotry and hate.    

Join the Virginia Holocaust Museum for a day of professional development focused on art, literature and music during the Holocaust. Educators will examine the diversity and richness of Jewish culture in Europe before the war, including the importance of the art, literature and music. There will also be a focus on how the arts continued to be a part of Jewish life even during Nazi oppression.  Educators will also be encouraged to think broadly about the idea of resistance: while some resisted Nazi tyranny by taking up arms, many others resisted using “weapons of the spirit,” to sustain hope.  Working with Museum staff, teachers will go in-depth to explore related curriculum resources for teachers of social studies, English, art, and music. This workshop is free for educators and includes: Breakfast, Coffee, and Lunch Educator Resources A certificate of attendance Register HERE! Deadline for Registration is October 21st, 2025 For questions about the workshop please contact mferenczy@vaholocaust.org

Join the Virginia Holocaust Museum and Centropa for a day of professional development focused on prewar Jewish life.. When teaching about the Holocaust, it is not enough to teach how Jews were murdered; we must also teach students how Jews lived. Likewise, it's not enough to teach Nazi stereotypes of Jews; we must educate students about the diversity of Jewish life in Europe before the war and give them an accurate picture of the group most targeted by the Nazis. Using the 1200 interviews and 23,000 digitized photographs of Jewish life in 15 Central and Eastern European countries collected by Centropa (www.centropa.org), we will explore the diversity of prewar European Jewish life (religious, social, economic, geographic), and the historical context from which Jews in Western, Central, and Eastern Europe faced the Nazis and their collaborators. Teachers will return to your students with a variety of resources that will help you teach about how Jews lived. This workshop is free for educators and includes: Breakfast, Coffee, and Lunch Educator Resources A certificate of attendance Register here! Deadline for Registration is November 6th About Centropa:  Centropa is a non-profit, Jewish historical institute dedicated to preserving 20th century Jewish family stories and photos from Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and disseminating these stories and photos through films, books and exhibitions.  Centropa offices are in Budapest, Hamburg and Washington, DC.

Join the Virginia Holocaust Museum and the Institute for Curriculum Services for an online workshop focused on examining the history of Jewish Immigration to the United States. Immigrants have come to the U.S. throughout history from many different places and for many different reasons. This session will explore a particular group’s immigration story at a significant moment in time—Jews in the early 20th century. Through this interactive session, teachers will receive the context for Jewish immigration between 1880-1924, discuss the various push and pull factors that brought Jewish immigrants to America, explore the cultural pressures and contributions of Jewish Americans, and grapple with the repercussions of the 1924 Immigration Act. Turn-key instructional resources will also be shared. This workshop is free for educators, and a certificate of attendance is emailed upon completion. Register HERE! (Deadline for Registration is January 8th, 2026.) Click HERE to download a program flyer. Questions?  Please contact Megan Ferenczy mferenczy@vaholocaust.org   

Join the Virginia Holocaust Museum and The Black Judaic Heritage Centre to explore a powerful, often overlooked story of global Jewish history. This workshop the history of Black Jews from ancient African communities through colonization, slavery, the Holocaust, and into the modern era. Communities such as the Beta Israel, Lemba, Akan/Sefwi, Igbo Jews, and African Jews in Bilād al-Sūdān, will be focused on, showing how their experiences intersect with broader themes of identity, diaspora, resilience, and survival. Using interactive lectures, photos, videos, and classroom tools aligned with Virginia SOL standards, educators will gain meaningful resources for teaching diverse Jewish narratives. This workshop is free for educators and includes: -Breakfast and Lunch -Educator Resources -A certificate of attendance Register here! Download Flyer here! Deadline for Registration is February 18th, 2026 For questions about the workshop please contact mferenczy@vaholocaust.org

Free Webinar, Open to the Public Stories of hope and resilience often shape Holocaust film and television. Join the Virginia Holocaust Museum’s Director of Collections, Tim Hensley to explore family histories from the Virginia Holocaust Museum archives to examine the lived realities of survivors after genocide. How did they search for missing family members? What did rebuilding their lives look like? And how can we examine these experiences thoughtfully, with care and historical integrity. Register here For questions about the webinar please contact mferenczy@vaholocaust.org  

This workshop is being rescheduled for March 2nd. Educator Workshop Join the Virginia Holocaust Museum and Karen Kruger, writer, and producer of the powerful PBS documentary Letters from Brno. Using the brand new LFB Teacher Toolkit we will preview a 6th-12th grade Holocaust curriculum through an immersive workshop that addresses best practices of Holocaust education using film, primary resources and survivor voices.  The workshop will also give educators the opportunity to screen the film, Letters From Brno, and participate in actual lessons using materials from the curriculum and accessing the extensive family archive of primary sources. This workshop is free for educators and includes: Breakfast and Lunch Educator Resources including a lesson for International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27th) and access to the educator’s version of Letters From Brno* A certificate of attendance Register HERE!  To download a flyer, click HERE! About the film: Letters from Brno tells the powerful, personal story of love and sacrifice during the Holocaust. In a 45-year search for clues to her mother’s past, daughter, Karen Kruger, uncovers the tragic fate of her grandparents through their letters written during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. For questions about the workshop please contact mferenczy@vaholocaust.org * The link to the educator’s cut of Letters From Brno will be available for one week.    

The history of the Holocaust includes powerful stories of individuals who risked everything to protect others; a Polish farmer hid two girls and their mothers for 28 months, a Serbian priest sheltered orphaned sisters, Bulgarian leaders protested Jewish deportations, and a Muslim woman hid her Jewish neighbor in Sarajevo. Using Centropa’s 1,200 interviews and 25,000 digitized photographs from 15 Central and Eastern European countries, this workshop explores acts of moral courage. Educators will leave with resources to teach students about empathy, civic engagement, social justice, and standing up for others. This workshop is free for educators and includes: Breakfast, Coffee, and Lunch Classroom resources A certificate of attendance Register HERE! Deadline for Registration is March 11th, 2026 A limited number of scholarships are available for teachers 120+ miles from Richmond.  Scholarships are to help cover travel, housing, and meals.  Please contact Megan Ferenczy mferenczy@vaholocaust.org to apply.

Educator Workshop  Location:  Virginia Holocaust Museum   Join the Virginia Holocaust Museum for a professional development workshop focused on helping educators build the knowledge and skills needed to teach the history of Auschwitz with accuracy, care, and impact. Participants will deepen their understanding of Auschwitz within the broader context of the Holocaust while exploring best practices for classroom instruction, including best practices, resources and strategies for addressing difficult content. Educators take part in a guided virtual experience featuring live narration by an educator located at the Auschwitz site. This real-time component allows teachers to experience the site as it exists today while engaging directly with a knowledgeable guide. The session incorporates multimedia materials—including archival photographs, artistic works, documents, and survivor testimonies—and allows for interaction throughout, giving participants the opportunity to ask questions and engage in discussions. Educators will explore survivor stories from the Virginia Holocaust Museum’s archival collection, offering powerful, human-centered entry points for student learning. They will engage directly with archival materials—including documents, photographs, and testimonies—and examine ways to incorporate these resources into their teaching. After participating in the workshop, educators will gain practical resources, effective strategies, and increased confidence in teaching this complex history. This workshop is free for educators and includes: Breakfast and Lunch A live guided tour of Auschwitz- Birkenau Certificate of attendance Register HERE!