Holocaust Studies Service-Learning Project
Help the Jewish community of Wrocław to tell its story
At its peak, this community numbered in the thousands; today only a handful remain. The restoration of a large Jewish cemetery connects us with people who have preceded us in time, and engages us in recognizing their place in the “community of memory.” This project honors the place of a people who have mostly vanished from Wrocław and Poland in the wake of the Holocaust, and helps the remaining community to reclaim an important cultural and historical artifact. As an act of historical recovery, this project stands as an active rebuke of ethnic violence anywhere in the world.
Our most recent trip: May 2024 | Read the blog
Applications will be accepted beginning September 2025.
Next trip: May 2026
Interested in learning more? Email ewilch@albion.edu to get your name on an interest list and receive notifications about the application process.
The next HSSLP trip to Poland will be in May 2026. We expect to fly to Poland on Sunday, May 10th. The trip begins with several days of service in a Jewish cemetery in Wrocław. From there, we spend two days exploring Kraków, and end the trip with a day at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Full cost per student is currently estimated at $2,800. Please note that we will be able to issue scholarships (some need-based) that will significantly bring down this amount. We encourage students to also take initiative to fundraise. In the past, some students have received funding from churches and synagogues in exchange for giving a presentation after the trip.
Apart from service in Poland and Holocaust-related tours, this one-unit course includes seven two-hour evening class sessions on campus during the spring semester.
Trip Description
Albion College’s Holocaust Studies Program Service-Learning Project in Poland takes place every other year in May. Our next trip will be May 2026. Students, faculty, and staff members spend time in Poland working, learning, and visiting sites related to the Holocaust and Polish Jewry.
The group first goes to Wrocław, mostly doing hard physical work restoring a Jewish cemetery. In the evening, the group meets to discuss readings and their experiences.
We then travel to Kraków, where we explore Kazimierz, the city’s historic Jewish quarter. We also visit the site of the Kraków ghetto, the nearby Schindler factory at 4 Lipowa Street, and the site of the Plaszow concentration camp, now a memorial park, just outside of the city.
Finally, we make an excursion to nearby Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Apart from service in Poland and Holocaust-related tours, this one-unit course includes seven two-hour evening class sessions on campus during the spring semester (IDY 198) that covers the history of Poland, the Holocaust, Jews in Poland both before and after World War II, and the transformation of Poland since the fall of communism.
Course Description
IDY 198 Holocaust Studies
Reviews the history of genocide, the history of the Jewish communities in Poland, and the history of the Nazi extermination of Jews in Poland during the Second World War. Required for, and restricted to, students selected to participate in the spring Holocaust Studies Service-Learning Project in Poland. Offered in alternate years.
Dr. Jocelyn McWhirter, Professor of Religious Studies, teaches this 1 unit interdisciplinary course.