Pre-Trip Educational Sessions

Cincinnati March of the Living 2012
Pre-trip Programs

The Cincinnati March of the Living is an incredible opportunity that offers local high school students a unique opportunity to travel to Poland and Israel with thousands of Jewish teenagers from around the world.

Prior to traveling to Poland and Israel, a significant amount of time is dedicated to learning about the Holocaust (Shoah) and Israel. This preparatory program, sponsored by the Mayerson JCC, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, and the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education, is meant to strengthen the participants’ experiences by providing them with basic concepts and knowledge.

During these pre-trip programs Cincinnati students have the opportunity to connect with one another on a regular basis. Given that students come from a wide variety of secular schools, congregations, and religious backgrounds, and come to the program with a diverse background about the Shoah and Israel, these sessions become an essential component of the March of the Living.

While we recognize that many students have very busy lives, attendance at all the pre-trip programs is mandatory. Each session will begin and end as scheduled.

Schedule of Pre-Trip Programs

Seminar One: Introduction to Israel
Date: Thursday, January 26, 7 to 9 p.m.
Introduction meeting with parents and participants.  This is your first chance to meet the leaders of the trip, other participants and their families.  You’ll also get to learn a little about Israel today. There will be a separate program for parents led by Sarah Weiss through the Mapping Our Tears exhibit.
Educator: Sarah Weiss, Director of Center for Holocaust and Humanity,
Chaverim M’Yisrael (young Israeli ambassadors)
Location: The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education on campus of Rockwern Academy 8401 Montgomery Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45236

Seminar Two: When, Where and How?
Date:   Thursday, February 9, 7 to 9:15 p.m.
As a group, attend the Jewish & Israeli Film Festival: La Rafle (The Roundup) - In picturesque Montmarte, three children wearing a yellow star play in the streets, oblivious to the darkness spreading over Nazi-occupied France. Their parents do not seem too concerned either, somehow putting their trust in the Vichy Government. But beyond this view, much is going on. Hitler demands that the French government round up its Jews and put them on trains for the extermination camps in the East. The collaborators start to put the plan into effect and within a short time, 13,000 of Paris’s Jews, among them 4,000 children, will be rounded up and sent on a road with no return. The fateful date: July 16th, 1942, 68 years ago. Film will be followed by a presentation by French Holocaust Survivor, Fran Greenberg.
Location: Mayerson Jewish Community Center                       



Seminar Three: The Longest Hatred: Exploring Antisemitism
Date: Thursday, February 23, 7 to 9 p.m.
Eyewitness to the Holocaust: Al Miller
Educator: Sarah Weiss
Location: The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education

Seminar Four: Destruction to Reconstruction
Date: Thursday, March 8, 7 to 9 p.m.
Eyewitness to the Holocaust: Werner Coppel
Educator: Sarah Weiss
Location: The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education

Seminar Five: Israel Today
Date: Thursday, March 22, 7 to 9 p.m.
Educator: Chaverim M’Yisrael/Yair Cohen (Community Shaliach)
Location: The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education

Pre Trip Departure Meeting for Parents and Students
Date: Thursday, April 5, 7 to 9 p.m.
Eyewitness to the Holocaust and Trip Participant Shares His Story: Professor Henry Fenichel
Location: The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education