Costs
A program sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Romania, the U.S. Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Romania, the Embassy of the State of Israel in Romania, the Embassy of Germany in Romania, coordinated by American Councils for International Education – Romania, with the support of the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania.
All costs are covered by the program.
2022 Edition’s agenda
On the first day of activities of the Elie Wiesel Study Tour 2022, after the participants had breakfast they attended the Opening Ceremony where representatives of our partners took part and gave speeches: Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Mr. William J. O’Connor, Deputy Head of Mission at Embassy of the Netherlands in Romania, Ms. Hinke Nauta, Head of Cultural Section of the Embassy of Germany in Romania, Ms. Sandra Zipprich and Dr. Marius Cazan, scientific researcher at the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania
After the Opening Ceremony, Mr. Amir Sagron, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Israel in Romania, our partner, held a seminar on the theme: The History of Antisemitism. Mr. Csaba Asztalos held a seminar. In the afternoon, our participants took part in a series of team building activities, facilitated by Mr. Victor Vlăduț.
On the second day of the Pre-Departure Orientetion of the Elie Wiesel Study Tour 2022, our participants learned about the history of the Holocaust in Romania from Dr. Marius Cazan, expert at the “Elie Wiesel” National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania. Afterwards, they received valuable insights from Elie Wiesel Study Tour Alumni Bianca Pintilie, Vlad Marian Palangă and Madalin Blidaru. They told the participants of this edition about their Study Tour experience and how it influenced them. In the afternoon, Prof. Sorin Langu gave a seminar on anti-Semitism, Nazism and the Holocaust.
On August 22, the Elie Wiesel Study Tour participants joined the presentation ceremony of the Elie Wiesel Memorial House restoration project, organized by the US Embassy in Bucharest and the Maramureșean Museum in Sighetul Marmației.
Participants met with Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Romania, Shane Dixon, Cultural Attaché William O’Connor, the Mayor of the city, Vasile Moldovan, the manager of the Maramureșean Museum, Mirela Ana Barz and Alina Marincean, curator of the “Elie Wiesel” Memorial House.
August 23 was the first day of activity in Krakow, Poland, of the Elie Wiesel Study Tour 2022 participants. The day started with a touching guided tour of Schindler’s Factory. In the second part of the day the participants were given a speech by a representative of JCC Krakow about the Center and the Jewish Community of Krakow. After the activities they explored Krakow and Professor Langu Sorin spoke to them about the history of the city
The 7th day of the Elie Wiesel Study Tour was a day in which our participants enjoyed a guided tour of the Kazimierz Jewish Quarter. They learned about the life and customs of the local Jews. In the afternoon, Eliza Chirilă-Pop, Country Director American Councils – Romania, gave a workshop on how to implement a successful follow-on activity.
The eighth day of the Elie Wiesel Study Tour will surely remain in the memories of our participants. The visit to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II Birkenau was an overwhelming one and one that etched the horrors that the victims of the Holocaust went through in the collective memory of the participants. They passed through places where victims were deported and subjected to unimaginable torment.
Day 9 was an opportunity for the Elie Wiesel Study Tour participants to visit Trnava, under the guidance of Professor Sorin Langu who provided them with historical information about the surroundings. Also in Trnava they took part in a public exhibition.
On the 10th day, the participants had a guided tour through the Jewish Quarter, Budapest, and a tour of the Holocaust Museum in the city. In the afternoon they visited the memorial “Shoes on the Danube Bank”, where Professor Langu explained to the participants the horrors the Hungarian Jews went through.
On the last day of the Elie Wiesel Study Tour 2022, our participants had a visit to Muzeon in Cluj, where they heard real stories of Romanian Jews. At the closing ceremony, all participants received diplomas to keep the memory of this project in physical form.
Testimonials
Cășeriu Bianca
Cepcenco Robert
‘It was an amazing experience that added new information to the base that we already had by visiting places with extremely powerful backgroud of the lowest point in mankind and by interacting with amazing new people with the same passion for history. Beside the amazing and shocking images and information the study tour connects the people, including the staff into a family and creates friendships that that will last a lifetime in some cases. I can’t thank everyone enough for this opportunity !’
Cardasim Filip
‘This group study opened dors for my mind to expand and get a deeper and more meaningful understanding of this tragedy. I was able to get to know amazing people from all over the country, to discover their passions and drive for what they do and get inspired. Visiting all these places and getting in touch with my heritage strated a spark in me to be more vocal about the things that actually matter, and to get more informed. All in all i think this is one of the best way to experience auscwitz, because you don’t only visiy the museum you get a full cultural and political point of view of the whole historical event.’
“The Holocaust was a crime against humanity that was so heinous that the world promised to never forget it in case similar horrors occurred in the future.
As a participant in the fifth Elie Wiesel Study Tour, I am privileged to learn not only about the history of the Holocaust and its victims but also about the value of awareness. The Elie Wiesel Study Tour gives participants the chance to comprehend the political, social, and cultural causes that led to and sustained the Holocaust, gives them the chance to witness the horrors of Auschwitz firsthand, and aims to improve their understanding of authoritarian regimes.”
Amalia Bodac
‘This experience made me aware of the responsibility that we young people have for the future and made me realize that by exploring the past you can create a better future by learning from the mistakes of the past. I learned that by changing the perspective on the past you can change the perspective on the future and that each of us can bring added value to society. I learned that empathy is a key element in creating a society with healthy principles. The fact that we had the opportunity to explore the past with specialized teachers made us understand the historical context, know where we place ourselves on the axis of time and let us be free to experience what each place conveyed to us.
‘This experience was conceived to disturb, to open minds, to throw you out of your head. It did (in a good way). Everything spoke to me, from the depths of history itself.’
Vanessa Bretea
Daniel Ienculescu-Popovici
‘It is definitely hard to sum up the experience, but the first word that comes to mind is “overwhelming”. These 12 days were extremely intense and packed with all kinds of emotions and it is this emotional mix that created a very strong bond between the participants. We were able to see where both the worst and the best of mankind can exist, how from sinister and monstrous sufferings the Jewish community managed to flourish and thrive again and why it is our responsibility to keep the memory of the victims alive.’
Marius Geți
“Not only that EW Study Tour connects you with people from other fields of study and still interested in the history of the Holocaust, but it demonstrates that you have not seen it all even if you had the impression. History is more beyond the surface – it does not fully stay in words, pictures taken in black&white. It means the stale, damp smell, it means to step by mistake on the edgy bricks (demolished, from the crematoria) that makes your feet slip, or on the beaten path seeing clearly the dent in the concrete knowing that stairs were stepped on by more than a million victims – and you, you stepping with the same foot, but not being chased… yet. The study tour is like a 4D version of an innocent 2D experience only by reading or hearing it briefly from someone. It gives you gives depth, vision, time, chills. Not only knowing the Holocaust, but sensing its sadistic, vicious and inhumane motifs.”
“Elie Wiesel Study Tour is a landmark effort dedicated to preserving and enhancing the collective memory of the most traumatic chapter of contemporary history. From its academic polyvalence to its spiritual meaning, this experience defines the premise of further action that us, the participants, are enabled to pursue. Jewish history is highly embedded in our societal architecture and celebrating its value is of utmost importance. The tragedy of the Holocaust has to be remembered consistently, so that no such act of huge horror is repeated.”
Răzvan Foncea