ࡱ> FHEM 0X3bjbj== 4BWW>.l   8R ^ v! "  $*# J%H!! !  0!   \ h z @6 4 F $F!0v! %z :% Richelle Budd Caplan International School for Holocaust Studies, Yad Vashem Jerusalem, Israel Panel on Session II:  Remembrance, Memorials and Museums The Educational Sustainability of Holocaust Remembrance Sunday, June 28,  2009 Prague Congress Centre On June 1, only a few weeks ago, a special concert of Leonard Bernsteins Symphony Number 3, Kaddish, was performed by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in the Warsaw Ghetto Square of Yad Vashem on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem. This special performance highlighted a text written and narrated by Holocaust survivor, Dr. Samuel Pisar entitled, A Dialogue with God, accompanying the music. In this artistic expression integrated in the symphony, Pisar, wrestles with the Divine in an outpouring of the heart, lamenting with grief and anger, welled up from his own traumatic past, and the deluge of hatred, violence and fear that is engulfing him again. In the second movement of this powerful musical piece, he cries to heaven, Now one of the last living survivors, of the greatest catastrophe, ever perpetrated by man against man, my life is no longer entirely my own. They also live within me. And my memory is the only tomb they have. Almost exactly two years ago, Elie Wiesel gave the opening address at an international conference on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. As he reflected on the question of Holocaust remembrance for posterity, Wiesel notes, Houses, buildings, stones: all these can disappear A decision in a high place can come a hundred years from now, and whatever is now here will not be here. As Holocaust survivors like Pisar, Wiesel and others pass on the torch of remembrance to the next generations, we are faced with the challenge of fostering Holocaust awareness. It seems as though bricks, as well as books and films, although inadequately, will ultimately replace survivors relating their personal stories. Holocaust memorials and museums have been built at the sites of Nazi German concentration camps and extermination centers as well as in various places where the actual events took place but they have also been erected around the globe in locations far away from Nazi-occupied Europe. For example, a couple of years ago an educational center focusing on the Holocaust was established in Wellington, New Zealand, and even a small-scale Holocaust museum (Museo de la Shoa Lchayim) has been created in Morovis, Puerto Rico. According to what we know, Holocaust-related museums and memorials may be found on almost every continent, with the exception of Antartica, such as in Tokyo in Asia; Cape Town in Africa; Buenos Aires in South America; Melbourne in Australia; Montreal in North America; Budapest in Hungary; and the list goes on. Clearly, these memorials and museums have been established to commemorate the Shoah, an unprecedented event that has fundamentally challenged the foundations of western civilization as stated in the Stockholm Declaration signed in January 2000. However, are we building memorials to remember for the future or to put the past behind us? We must honestly ask ourselves whether building museums and memorials will ensure that Holocaust remembrance will be sustainable. The term sustainable, which has become rather trendy in some circles, has been applied in various different contexts throughout the past few decades. For instance, the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development has listed more than forty areas that fall under the category of sustainable development, with a strong emphasis on ecology and the environment. This term denotes that we are concerned about the future and that we need to put a system or process in place with a view to promote cross-sectional cooperation to achieve our goals even though they may not always be realistically attainable. Moreover, this term underscores our responsibility as human beings to plan ahead in the long-term for the generations of tomorrow. In the context of Holocaust education and remembrance, we are clearly concerned about the future, especially as Holocaust survivors become older and often frail. We recognize that as educators we have a responsibility to impart this history in an age-appropriate, interdisciplinary way to youngsters. As part of our common objective, we coordinate teacher-training programs, seminars and workshops as well as produce lesson plans, textbooks, films, internet sites and other resources to provide aids for educators in formal and informal frameworks. The name Yad Vashem is based on a biblical passage from the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 56, Verse 5, "And to them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name (a "yad vashem")... that shall not be cut off. Established in 1953, Yad Vashem has been committed to four pillars of remembrance: commemoration; documentation; research and education. The order of these cornerstones of remembrance is not coincidental, but rather reflects a shift in the development of Yad Vashem over the past two decades. In the early years, Yad Vashems main mission was to collect information, especially names of Jewish victims who were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. The building of our archives evolved in parallel with Holocaust research and the development of scholarship in this field. Yet, until the early 1990s, educational activities at Yad Vashem were rather limited in scope. The International School for Holocaust Studies was established in 1993 under the direction of the Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, Avner Shalev. Reflecting on the creation of the only school of its kind in the world, in Summer 2008, Shalev relates, When I came to Yad Vashem, I found it was full of memorials, plans for more memorials, all kinds of stones, which were very important because they wanted something tangible, something that would stay forever. And I tried to convince them that the most important thing would be to construct a school. The School is part of a larger educational complex including an immense archive, modern museums and a world-renowned research institute, and on a daily basis, School staff draw upon the expertise of their colleagues in other departments. Building a school in the heart of the Yad Vashem memorial was unquestionably a significant statement, indicating that the new administration had chosen to make education one of its first priorities. Moreover, by calling it a school, it became evident that Yad Vashem was seeking to embark on a sustainable process of building a staff of professional educators and creating a discipline not academics in a university but rather experts in pedagogy. It is important to emphasize that Holocaust education as defined and developed by the School is multi-disciplinary, multi-faceted and multi-directional, focusing on how individuals lived before, during and after the Holocaust as well as the choiceless choices they were forced to confront during this period. Our educational approach encourages learners to focus on personal stories and the dilemmas of those who lived during the Shoah, wrestle with questions, and reflect. Our aim for educational sustainability of Holocaust education and remembrance is rooted in the subject matter. We must ensure that teachers, and their students, have a secure grounding in the history of the Shoah. Learning about the Holocaust can sensitize young people to modern-day examples of hatred and racism, but moral lessons will not be well founded unless they are based upon an accurate and objective understanding of the historical context. The School, including more than 100 staff members, organizes educational programs and produces didactic materials for a number of target populations and educational organizations in Israel and abroad. In 2008, over 300,000 young people participated in programs developed by the School. More than 60 seminars for educators from abroad were coordinated on the campus, and over 100 teacher-training courses for Israeli educators were organized in conjunction with local partners. In addition, School staff presented educational tools and techniques in a plethora of languages in 26 different countries. In recent years we have witnessed a growing interest among European countries to educate and commemorate the Holocaust. Many of these countries have formally instituted Holocaust remembrance days and educational programs, thus increasing the need for accurate, relevant lesson plans and pedagogical guidance. Since we are attending an international conference focusing on Holocaust-era assets, it is only fitting to focus on the path-breaking work of the European department of our School, encompassing 38 countries from across the continent, made possible through the generous assistance of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC). The content of each and every seminar is tailor-made according to the country of origin of the participants. To help facilitate a constructive learning process, preparatory and concluding meetings are also organized. Educational materials in a variety of European languages including Hungarian, Romanian, Polish, Lithuanian, German, French, Russian, Italian, Croatian, Czech, and others may be found on our website. Our objective is to create a network of educators committed to undertaking Holocaust-related projects in their own regions and develop an open, professional dialogue with them. The work of the European department represents an attempt to integrate all of the facets of the Yad Vashem campus, including historical lectures, pedagogical workshops, museum tours, survivor testimonies, and debriefing sessions, in an effort to develop a deep educational process among learners. In our effort to strive for educational sustainability, we also seek to develop strong partnerships with international bodies, ministries of education and non-governmental organizations on the bilateral and multilateral planes. For example, the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research, established in 1998, now has 27 member states including those outside of Europe such as the United States of America, Canada and Argentina. Additional nations have also officially indicated their interest to buttress their efforts to further Holocaust education and commemoration, requesting to work in partnership with the Task Forces international umbrella of experts, policy makers and diplomats. In our view, our active participation in the Task Force, as well as our projects with the OSCE, the European Union, the Council of Europe, the United Nations and other international organizations, is key to developing educational sustainability of Holocaust awareness and remembrance. Before the new Holocaust history museum opened in March 2005, there were those who noted that Yad Vashem has a big school and a small museum attached to it. Clearly, visiting a Holocaust-related museum or memorial does not yield instantaneous educational results. Education is invariably linked with changes in social behavior and cognitive understanding, yet we must be realistic in our expectations though continuously aspire to develop long-term processes based on partnerships to ensure a lasting impact. In his narration of Kaddish, Pisar affirms, I must honor their tragic legacy, and warn the living of every race, color and creed against the new catastrophes that may still lie ahead. For the unthinkable is again possible a relapse into the dark ages, as a leap toward a radiant future. Pisars words underscore our responsibility for a better tomorrow and our need to implement Holocaust education through sustainable educational frameworks and networks. PAGE  PAGE 2 5 7 km """'w'6*F,b/>3?3E3F3G3H3I3J3P3Q3R3S3T3U3W3X3Z0JZ0Jj0JUZCJOJQJaJmH sH H*mH sH mH sH Z\\5\mH sH 5\#,2 q r N$dhA$$A$a$$a$$A$a$>3W3NOklLM)!*!"G%H%~&&''6*7*a+b+b/c/a1b12253 $dhA$a$$dhA$53637383;3<3=3>3G3H3I3T3U3V3W3X3$$$&`#$ $dhA$a$$dhA$21h. A!"#$% (2*2 iF@F Normal$A$CJ_H aJmH sH tH >@> Heading 1$$@&A$ 5mH sH f2f Heading 3$dd@&A$[$\$'5B* CJOJPJQJ\^JaJphSfbf Heading 6$dd@&A$[$\$'5B* CJOJPJQJ\^JaJphS<A@< Default Paragraph Font6 @6 Footer$ 9r &)@& Page NumberFU@F Hyperlink#>*B*CJOJQJ^JaJo(ph3h"h normaltext$dhddA$[$\$a$!B*CJOJPJQJ^JaJph\O1\ school_menusubtitle1#5CJOJQJ\^JaJo(phP^BP Normal (Web)$ddA$[$\$OJPJQJ^JX.BM_qr NOklLM)*G H ~!!""6%7%a&b&b*c*a,b,--5.6.7.8.;.<.=.>.I.T.U.Y.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000@0000000@0@0@0 0 X3N53X3 W3 !!BEFL^eQVem'. } C L J O NOj\b|?I" "%%%%****++v,},,,,,,,-->.V.Y. ~MOj>.V.Y.3M_ >.V.Y. IX:\Czech Holocaust Assets Conference\RBC's Presentation Draft Remarks.doc IX:\Czech Holocaust Assets Conference\RBC's Presentation Draft Remarks.doc IX:\Czech Holocaust Assets Conference\RBC's Presentation Draft Remarks.doc IX:\Czech Holocaust Assets Conference\RBC's Presentation Draft Remarks.doc IX:\Czech Holocaust Assets Conference\RBC's Presentation Draft Remarks.doc IX:\Czech Holocaust Assets Conference\RBC's Presentation Draft Remarks.doc IX:\Czech Holocaust Assets Conference\RBC's Presentation Draft Remarks.doc IX:\Czech Holocaust Assets Conference\RBC's Presentation Draft Remarks.doc IX:\Czech Holocaust Assets Conference\RBC's Presentation Draft Remarks.doc |C:\Documents and Settings\rachelbk\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\AutoRecovery save of RBC's Presentation Draft Remarks.asd>+p/K>JfZ7#@v(Hv8l,4e$py^`CJOJQJo(^`CJOJQJo(opp^p`CJOJQJo(@ @ ^@ `CJOJQJo(^`CJOJQJo(^`CJOJQJo(^`CJOJQJo(^`CJOJQJo(PP^P`CJOJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(oh pp^p`OJQJo(h @ @ ^@ `OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(oh ^`OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(oh PP^P`OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(oh pp^p`OJQJo(h @ @ ^@ `OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(oh ^`OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(oh PP^P`OJQJo(h 88^8`OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(oh   ^ `OJQJo(h   ^ `OJQJo(h xx^x`OJQJo(oh HH^H`OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(oh ^`OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(oh pp^p`OJQJo(h @ @ ^@ `OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(oh ^`OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(h ^`OJQJo(oh PP^P`OJQJo(4e$pv8/K>Z7#>.rk^8Fv.s5f;>&D¨d                                    / "b*Y.@ C X.`` @UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial7&  VerdanaI& ??Arial Unicode MS?5 z Courier New;Wingdings"qh:׆;x!&Qq20d. 2q Draft Remarks  Oh+'0  0 < H T`hpxDraft Remarksoraf afafaf Normal.dotk rm120Microsoft Word 9.0@VB@Ąu@9@H}!&՜.+,0 hp   Yad VashemQ. Draft Remarks Title  !#$%&'()*+,-./012346789:;<>?@ABCDGRoot Entry F0L8I1Table"%WordDocument4BSummaryInformation(5DocumentSummaryInformation8=CompObjjObjectPool0L80L8  FMicrosoft Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q