Born in Berlin, Germany, Feigl and his parents eventually fled to Vichy France to escape the Nazis. In summer 1942, the Vichy government, in collaboration with the Nazis, began rounding up Jews and deporting them to German concentration camps in Poland. On Aug. 26, 1942, unbeknownst to Feigl, who was in a Quaker summer camp, his parents were arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where they were killed within a month of their arrival.

With the help of the Quakers, Feigl was sent to the predominantly Protestant village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. Sheltered in the surrounding area were nearly 5,000 people, among whom were 3,500 Jews, including many children. In the village, Feigl was given false identity papers and sent as a boarding student to a high school in Figeac, France. From there, after escaping arrest during a German raid in May 1944, Feigl escaped to neutral Switzerland over barbed wire fences with the help of the Jewish underground.

Feigl immigrated to the U.S. in July 1946, where he served three years in the U.S. Air Force. For 35 years, Feigl pursued a career in international sales of aircraft and related services in the private sector and spent more than five years as a senior negotiator in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Since retiring, Feigl has traveled around the world speaking about his experiences and two diaries he wrote detailing his experiences during the Holocaust. In 1954, Feigl married Leonie Warschauer, and they have two daughters. He is now a volunteer at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. He is the author of the book, One Man, Two Voices: Peter Feigl’s Diary and Testimony.

Darryle Clott earned a bachelor’s degree in 1966 and a master’s in 1971 from The University of WI—La Crosse. She retired from La Crescent (MN) High School in 2004 where she taught a comprehensive unit on the Holocaust for several years in her English classes. The classes inspired her to attend the Teachers’ Summer Institute on Holocaust and Jewish Studies and Jewish Resistance in Poland and Israel in 2001, and she is currently on their Alumni Advisory Board. As her interest in the Holocaust grew, Clott became a member of the American Friends of the Jewish Fighters Museum Consortium of Holocaust Educators and is the founder of the Midwest Holocaust Education Consortium. She is a Teacher Fellow at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C

Darryle leads Holocaust Educator Workshops and is an associate of the Ethics in Leadership Institute at Viterbo University. She is a member of the Chancellor’s Community Council at the University of WI—La Crosse. She is instrumental in bringing Holocaust survivors to the La Crosse community at Viterbo University including Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, Presidential Medal of Honor winner Gerda Weissmann Klein, and Otto Frank’s step-daughter Eva Schloss.

Darryle was a participant in the 2006 Educators’ Seminar of the Educational Program on Yiddish Culture at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York City. She is on the Editorial Board of Yeshiva University’s PRISM: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Holocaust Educators. Darryle was honored with the Gregory P. Wegner Holocaust Education Award at the Congregation Sons of Abraham Synagogue in 2008 and 2014 and is the Graff Distinguished Alumnus Award winner for 2008 at the University of WI—La Crosse. In 2009 Darryle was chosen to be part of a League of Women Voters project, “The Road She Traveled”, for local women who have had a significant impact on their community.

Darryle is the 2009 La Crosse Toastmasters’ Communication and Leadership award winner. In October 2010, she was one of ten American Holocaust educators chosen to travel to Poland to study Holocaust pedagogy with Polish Holocaust educators in a program sponsored by the Polish Embassy in Washington D.C. The La Crosse area YWCA Tribute to Outstanding Women Trailblazer Award was presented to Darryle in November 2010. In May 2011 Darryle was given the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. The medals are presented on Ellis Island to American citizens of diverse origins for their outstanding contributions to their communities, their nation and the world.

In April 2014 Darryle was honored by Fort McCoy with the Patriotic Civilian Service Award in appreciation for exceptional support to the Fort McCoy community of soldiers and civilians.

Darryle received the Pope John XXIII Award for Distinguished Service from Viterbo University in May 2017. The award, the highest non-academic award conferred by Viterbo, is given to those who have distinguished themselves through outstanding leadership and through service to higher education, to community and to humankind. In January 2018, Darryle received the Iverson Freking Ecumenical Recognition Award which recognizes the dedication of people to ecumenical endeavors and who reflect a positive commitment to Coulee Region communities. Darryle was honored to serve as Mrs. Oktoberfest 2019 - 2020. Most recently in November 2023, Darryle was recognized and honored by the La Crescent Education Foundation by being inducted into the Wall of Excellence.

Steve had the honor of working at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington, DC from 1996 to 2011. From 1996 to 2000, he was the individual responsible for the development and implementation of the Museum Teacher Fellowship Program. As Director of the National Outreach program at the USHMM from 2000 to 2009, he was responsible for the creation, design, and implementation of the Museum’s entire national educational outreach program. He was the Special Assistant for Education Programs in the National Institute for Holocaust Education (NIHE) at the USHMM from 2009 to 2011. In this capacity, he coordinated NIHE’s International Educational activities as well as directing the USHMM’s teacher education programs in California, Florida, Texas, and Illinois.

He was a member of the United States delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) from 1999 to 2011, working extensively with the IHRA Education Working Group. In addition to conducting teacher training programs across the United States, he has also coordinated or participated in programs in Europe, South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

He joined the USHMM’s staff in Washington in 1996, but had been an educational consultant for the Museum since 1990. He is the co-editor, with Dr. Samuel Totten, of Essentials of Holocaust Education (Routledge, 2016) and Teaching and Studying The Holocaust (Allyn & Bacon, 2000).

Prior to his work at the Museum, he was a Social Studies teacher in public and private schools in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Paris, France. He also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco (1968-1970) and Thailand (1974-1975). Mr. Feinberg received his bachelors’ degree in history from UCLA and his masters’ degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

Dana Humphrey has 43 years of educational experience as a middle school English teacher, department chair, district curriculum coordinator, and professional development presenter. She serves as the ELA consultant for the St. Louis Regional Professional Development Center. She has presented numerous workshops at the local, state, and national level and has written and co-authored articles and chapters in books on effective instructional pedagogy. 

Dana is a 2000 Museum Teacher Fellow from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) and a member of two Holocaust education consortium. She serves on the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum Council and is a teacher educator at the museum. She has presented for the USHMM Belfer Conference, the USHMM CHEC Conferences, the National Council of Teachers of English, the St. Louis Holocaust Museum, and the Missouri Holocaust Institute. Dana is also a gubernatorial appointee to the Missouri Holocaust Education and Awareness Commission.

Karen Shawn, PhD, is a former English teacher and middle school administrator. She is currently an associate professor of Holocaust literature and education, the director of educational outreach, and the administrator for the Advanced Certificate program for Holocaust educators at Yeshiva University’s Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. The founding editor of YU’s PRISM: An Interdisciplinary Journal for Holocaust Educators, she has presented at conferences across America, Israel, and Europe, has written over 80 articles and essays on Holocaust education, and has co-edited the two-volume The Call of Memory, an anthology of Holocaust narratives and accompanying teachers’ guide. Her most recent edited publication is the 2024 edition of PRISM, which features a section on October seventh and the aftermath.

Maureen Feran Freedland is the daughter of Holocaust survivors and granddaughter of Holocaust victims from Czechoslovakia. Her father freely shared his perilous journey aboard a schooner to British Mandate Palestine leaving three days before the Czech borders were sealed. Her mother was steadfastly silent telling how she avoided deportation with her family on June 13, 1942 to Terezin Transit Camp and then to a death camp that same day, and how she ultimately survived the war living not far from her Czech hometown. After her mother’s death in La Crosse in 2016 and during the years of COVID quarantine, Freedland endeavored to put together her mother’s story from scraps of untranslated documents and unidentified photos she left behind. A pipe dream to travel to the Czech Republic to unravel her mother’s story became reality in 2024 with the help of her ever-supportive husband, and an inquisitive and persistent Czech native who served as her guide and dogged researcher. What she ultimately learned about her mother, the Holocaust, and even herself is both ordinary and extraordinary.

Freedland is mindful of the compelling need to continue telling the horrific story of the Holocaust after the survivors are no longer with us. She and her husband Robert Freedland, MD, established two funds for Studies of the Shoah with the La Crosse Community Foundation in 2007 and 2015 in La Crosse area public and parochial schools that supply resources to teachers, students, and the community including the development of curricula and opportunities to attend this Viterbo Workshop. She has been elected to the La Crosse County Board of Supervisors since 2005. She has a background in public interest law and is currently involved with grassroots advocacy to further community development, interfaith collaboration, the environment, and welcome to Ukrainian newcomers to America during their tragic war. Her BA is from Emory University and JD from Loyola University. Maureen’s community recognition include the 2017 Bethany St. Joseph Iverson Freking Ecumenical Recognition Award.

Jon Reiner, a sought-after keynote speaker, coach, and trainer specializing in Holocaust education

With an MA in Holocaust and genocide studies from Gratz College, Reiner has made significant contributions to the field by being one of the first to introduce intentional Holocaust education to the American Evangelical Christian Church through an innovative all-day workshop.

As the founder of “6M,” a Holocaust education company, and the creator of the "Holocaust Essentials" podcast, He is dedicated to promoting awareness and understanding of Holocaust history. His expertise extends to teaching both in-person and virtual Holocaust classes and workshops to diverse audiences, including middle and high school students and adults, through various formats such as pop-up classes, COVID-19 Zoom sessions, and in-person seminars.

Currently residing in La Crosse, Wis., Reiner serves as a teaching pastor at a local church, the host of The Jon Reiner Podcast, and the founder of “Jon Reiner, LLC.” When not engaging in educational endeavors or delivering impactful speeches, he cherishes time with his beautiful wife of 16 years, Emily, and being a “girl dad” to his three daughters, Evelyn, Ruth, and Lilian.

Hallie Weibel is a 2007 Viterbo alumna and current graduate student. She began her education career by establishing and managing a 21st Century Grant afterschool program for Sparta Schools. Then, she transitioned to the classroom, teaching middle school reading, science, and language arts in Sparta and Cashton. Five years ago, she transferred to Holmen Middle School, where she teaches eighth grade ELA.

Hallie lives near Rockland with her husband, three children, two dogs, and four fish. Outside of school, she runs a successful wedding business, officiating and coordinating approximately 25 weddings per year. Weibel spent 10 years as a foster parent and enjoys shopping, camping, reading, and live music. She has received the following awards: School District of Holmen Vabbulous Viking award; UW-Platteville Influential Educator; Altra Credit Union Outstanding Teacher; and Patricia Behring National History Day Teacher(s) of the Year for the state of Wisconsin.