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The Mark and Gail Appel Program in Holocaust and Antiracism Education - "Learning from the Past, Teaching for the Future"- is an initiative of The Centre for Jewish Studies and The Canadian Centre for German and European Studies at York University in Toronto, Canada. Its name recognizes the generosity of Mark and Gail Appel of Toronto, whose support has sustained us since 2003. The 2009-2010 cycle represented the fifth phase of the project, which began in 2001.

The project brings together Canadian university students and fellow students from Germany and Poland, to explore how best to counter racism — including antisemitism — through teaching about the Holocaust. It also involves experts and members of the broader public in all three countries.

The project's official patron is Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Jutta Limbach, President of the Goethe Institute and past President (Chief Justice) of the German Federal Constitutional Court.

At the heart of the project's Phase III are two periods of intensive collaborative work and exploration. The first is three-and-one-half weeks of Field Study in Germany and Poland that last took place in the summer of 2009. The second, a ten-day follow-up Symposium in Toronto, including a public lecture series, last took place in February 2010.

In the summer of 2011, we conducted a highly successful retrospective-prospective symposium for past participants, with conference presentations, workshops, and site visits, primarily in Poznan but also in Berlin. and for the first time, a week-long study visit to Israel, in conjunction with York University's partner institution the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Thanks to the generosity of the Appels, the Baden-Württemberg Office for Civic Education and Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts; the Gemeinnützige Hertie-Stiftung, the Adam-Mickiewicz University (Poznan), York University, and private donors, we have been able to offer financial aid to all student participants who demonstrate financial need.

This website introduces the project’s goals, approaches, program, coordinators, and individual and institutional partners. It answers common questions and explains who can participate and how to apply.

For the moment, we are not accepting applications for a next round, but we hope to have an announcement in early 2012.