Become a Schächter Fellow

The Defiant Requiem Foundation offers a limited numbers of fellowships every other year for The Rafael Schächter Institute for Arts and Humanities.  Schächter Fellows are educators and other individuals working in Holocaust-related fields who are selected to receive stipends to defray the cost of attending Institute during years when it is held in the Czech Republic.

The program is competitive and applicants must complete an online application that is typically available 3 months in advance of the start of the Institute.  Application information is available on The Defiant Requiem Foundation website and is also disseminated through several academic partners, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and many Jewish organizations around the country.  Schächter Fellows are expected to attend all Institute events, which typically occur over a 5-day period.

One of the selection committee’s most important criteria in selecting Schächter Fellows is evidence of an applicant’s ability and commitment to sharing the lessons of Terezín after the trip.  The selection committee looks for candidates who can demonstrate the ability to engage with students, co-workers, and colleagues after returning home to bring the materials and information learned at the Institute to their communities.  The goal is to create platforms for the sharing of ideas, enthusiasm, and experience that will last long after the conclusion of the Institute itself.

Support for this program is generously provided by Nina and Sol Glasner in memory of members of the Fischl-Kohn families whose lives were forever broken by the suffering they experienced at Theresienstadt, and from the Frances C. Eizenstat Fund of The Defiant Requiem Foundation.

The events, dates, and schedule of the Institute vary from year to year, as does the number of stipends offered.  The 2016 Institute  will be held in New York City from May 3-6 and no stipends will be offered.  The next time the Institute will be held in the Czech Republic is spring 2017.

For detailed information about the 2017 Schächter Fellowship program, click here.