6.5 “Human Rights Violation, The Role and Dilemmas of Bystanders before (and at the time
of) the Holocaust”
i. Katarzyna Korsak
Title of the Project:
Human Rights Violation, The Role and Dilemmas of Bystanders before and (at the time of) the Holocaust.
Name of the Coordinator:
Katarzyna Korsak
Name of the School:
Zespol Szkol Ekonomiczno-Kupieckich, Plock, Poland
EU Member State:
Poland
Number of Students Involved and their ages/grades:
90 students (16-19 years)
Involvement of Advisors and/or Other Institutions (if applicable) 1 :
Ingrida Vilkiene, the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet
Occupation Regimes in Lithuania,
Foundation Monumentum Iudaicum Lodzense in Lodz, Poland
Polish Jews Forum,
Project Description and Didactic Objectives:
The incorporation of teaching on human rights and the Holocaust allowed students to study the problems
from another perspective. Not only did they analyze the cases of racism, xenophobia and antisemitism in
our contemporary world, but they also had an opportunity to broaden their knowledge and find out more
about the one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century – the Holocaust. This allowed them to
formulate critical opinions on antisemitic views or examine websites on the Internet e.g. Holocaust denial,
and become more aware of the existence of stereotypes and prejudice in everyday life.
The project also proved that teaching about Holocaust and human rights can and should be done from an
interdisciplinary point of view – not only do history teachers have responsibility for teaching about the
Holocaust and tolerance, almost any humanistic subject of the school curriculum is appropriate for teaching
about Holocaust and human rights.
1
During the early stages of this project, Maria van Haperen, a historian who works as an education specialist at the Centre for
Holocaust and Genocide studies/ Dutch Institute for War Documentation (CHGS/NIOD) in Amsterdam was involved.
The project also revealed the important role that films and literature play (diaries, testimonies) which help to
raise interest in the Holocaust and present students the way in which the tragedy meets its artistic
expressions. The problem was to choose the appropriate materials according to the age of students.
It is necessary to stress the importance of survivors’ testimonies and meetings with those who are still alive
and are capable of relating their personal experiences.
The project was also an opportunity to broaden students’ knowledge, teach about the Holocaust from
another perspective (the role of bystanders) and to incorporate other fields of knowledge e.g. human rights.
Step-by-Step Work Plan and Timetable in Chart Form:
Task
Date
Cooperation with Foundation Monumentum Iudaicum Lodzense, March 2009
preparation of a textbook for secondary school students about the
Litzmanstadt Ghetto
The analysis of the European Convention on Human Rights.
March-May 2009
2 hours in each class
„Eclipse of Humanity” - What Can be done so that the Holocaust or any April 2009
Genocide would not Happen Again?
1 hour in each class,
result – essays
Victims, Perpetrators and Bystanders – who are they and what was their April-May 2009
role during WWII?
1 hour in each class
Poles who Rescued Jews – the analysis of an educational material,
discussion on the Righteous Among the Nations.
April-May
1 hour in each class
Meeting with Dutch history teachers in Auschwitz (the outline of
cooperation)
May 2009
Workshop „Preventing Prejudice, Stereotypes, Antisemitism and Human 6th June 2009
Rights Violation, the Analysis of Human Rights Violation during
WWII”(posters, photos)
Meeting with Jan Przedpelski, the author of the book “Jews of Plock” (video July 2009
recording).
1st Meeting with Halina Elczewska in Warsaw – a Holocaust survivor – August 2009
(video recording).
2nd Meeting with Halina Elczewska and students, presentation by students
of a short artistic programme about Litzmanstadt Ghetto
(poems by Mieczyslaw Jastrun, Icchak Kacenelson, texts by
W.Bartoszewski) - Video recording.
Students take part in a workshop “The Life of Escapees from Warsaw
Ghetto on the Aryan Side – a panorama of different attitudes” in “Dom
Spotkań z Historią”(The House of Meetings with History) in Warsaw and
watch the exhibition “The Faces of Totalitarian Systems”.
30 students work on the parts of the book “Kartki z pożogi” by Symcha
Guterman and prepare for discussion with Lithuanian and Dutch students.
1st October 2009
1st October 2009
September
November 2010
2009-
Students prepare posters about Stereotypes, Antisemitism and Human September-October 2009
Rights.
Presentation of the film “Just Beyond this Forest”- discussion.
November 2009
November 2009- February
Students gather real life stories from their neighbourhood:
Danuta Helena Przybysiak - a great-grandmother of a student Paulina 2010
Borowska (16 year old) class 1C-written recording about greatgrandmother’s adolescence and life and work at a Jewish family before the
war and the fate of a young Jewish girl in a small village during the war.
[In Zakrzew, central Poland during the war there was a young girl hidden in
a village. People knew she was Jewish and called her “Andzia”. When the
war ended, the girl’s protector died and did not tell the girl her real
surname. When the girl grew up she fell in love in a local boy and they
decided to get married. The local priest helped the girl and wrote her a birth
certificate. The young couple got married and left the village. Nobody
knows about their further fate.]
The story was told the students as an example of different relations to the
Jews in occupied Poland. They were asked to find other real stories in their
villages and town.
A great-grandmother of a student Marta Cichocka (17 years old) class 2B–
persecution of a Jew during the forced labour in the neighbourhood of
Plock, before the time of ghettoisation.[At the beginning of war the Nazis
took Poles and Jews for forced labour. During the break when the workers
were eating soup a Jew threw away a rotten potato. When a German
soldier saw it forced a Jew to eat the potato and the man was mercilessly
beaten.] The story was presented to the class; students were given the text
of a Universal Declaration on Human Rights and with the help of the
teacher found the articles which relate to the story.
Students write essays on the different attitudes of Poles towards the Jews
during WWII. Quotes:
Magdalena Korycka (16 years old), Lublin, Poland, [email protected]
„I have heard about the quote „Those who rescue one life rescue the whole
world.”
“I know that there were different attitudes of Poles towards the Jews: some
helped because of compassion and some because of the money... I have
learnt about “Zegota” and Irena Sendlerowa. Irena Sendlerowa helped
children through the hell of war. Let it never happen again…”.”
Students become acquainted with the Universal Declaration of Human December 2009 - January
Rights of 1948.
2010
February 2010 – March
Final results of the project:
On the basis of the acquainted knowledge in the field of the human rights 2010
violation and antisemitism during WWII and decrees such as the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, students prepare their opinions and
reflections for the Lithuanian and Dutch students to exchange during an email correspondence (it has just begun in March 2010 with Dutch students
from Rotterdam http:/algemeen.calvijn.nl and is going to start with
Lithuanian students). It can be also a beginning for a possible meeting or
exchange of students in the future.
The end of the project
Objectives and Rationale:
Content and Context:
The project is focused on teaching about Holocaust and the role and dilemmas of bystanders (who were
they, the different shades of being a bystander) with the relation to contemporary world problems and
incidents from school life (case study) and the problems of human rights violations, antisemitism, prejudice
and stereotypes.
Pedagogical/Didactic Aims
Educationabout human rights and the Holocaust,
Presentation of the cases of human rights violation on the basis of the Holocaust and contemporary e.g.
“school” incidents,
Teaching about stereotypes, prejudice, antisemitism, xenophobia and discrimination, defining these
problems in everyday life,
Reflections on the role of bystanders during conflicts and human rights violation,
Formation of sensitivity to unequal treatment and unequal opportunities and social exclusion,
Development of consciousness of differences in society.
The motto of our project: “We must unmask the origin of the evil that can fascinate the fragile freedom of
men. We must help young people recognise that some things that may entice them, lead them away from
this high ideal of humanity and respect for the freedom and rights of all. ...show them that this ideal of
humanity is essential to their happiness, and that this high ideal is always the fruit of a conquest, the
conquest of intelligence seeking the truth, of freedom seeking and choosing what is good, placing the good
of others before one’s own passions and satisfaction.”
Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger
Methodological Approaches:
Interdisciplinary, with the use of films, diaries, meetings with survivor. The predominant method is
workshops (with elements such as: case study, discussion, group work), practical activities which aim to
elaborate a certain way of perceiving reality; consequently realized way of teaching on human rights and the
Holocaust, training with the clearly stated aim.
The focal point of the project, the dilemmas of bystanders, was dealt through the entire project with the help
of a questionnaire. After each meeting, film or reading a chapter of the book students tried to relate and give
answers to the following questions:
In the story/chapter you were acquainted with who were the victims, bystanders and perpetrators?
Did you notice any cases of behaviour of the characters in the testimonies or films when the line between
bystanders and perpetrators was blurred? What determines such changes?
What choices had people who still maintained contact with their Jewish friends?
What impact did the choices the bystanders have upon the efforts of the Nazis to persecute Jews?
If you witness human rights violation do you react? Would you react at the time of war (with relation to the
presented situations)?
Practical Challenges Faced by the Coordinators and Resolution Strategies:
Some activities connected with broadening the knowledge about the Jewish culture or visiting a synagogue,
(especially in smaller towns), are necessarily connected with travelling to bigger towns. Not all students can
afford such trips and, as a result, a smaller group of students (who pay for their trip) take part in an
excursion to visit e.g. a synagogue or to meet a Holocaust survivor in another town.
It is necessary to prepare the students for the meetings with elderly Holocaust survivors and explain them
that some parts of their biographies are painful to talk about.
A very important factor is the teacher’s or educator’s own engagement in the subject and enthusiasm - the
main factor which leads to success.
It is difficult to find a professional place to organize a video conference (without payment).
Technical Equipment Requirements (if applicable):
Facilities for a video conference.
Primary Source Materials and Online Resources:
Books:
Symcha Guterman, Kartki z pożogi, TNP
Kazimierz Sakowicz, Ponary Diary 1941-1943, A Bystander’s Account of a Mass Murder, Yale University
Press 2005
Jan Przedpełski, Żydzi płoccy, dzieje i martyrologia 1939-1945, Fraza, Płock 1993
Polacy ratujący Żydów w latach II wojny światowej, IPN, Warszawa 2008
Irena Steinfeldt, How was it Humanly Possible? – A Study of Perpetrators and Bystanders during the
Holocaust, Yad Vashem 2002
The European Convention on Human Rights – starting points for teachers. A publication of the Directorate
of Communication – Public Relations Division, Council of Europe,
“Equal Voices” a magazine edited by FRA,
S’cool Agenda 2009, FRA,
http://www.fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/your_rights/materials/scool_agenda_2010_en.htm
Films: “Jeszcze tylko ten las” (Just Beyond this Forest), director Jan Łomnicki,
“Lista Schindlera” (Schindler’s List), director Stephen Spielberg,
“Korczak”, director Andrzej Wajda,
“Holokaust oczami dziecka” (Holocaust in the Eyes of Children), Shalom Foundation, Poland.
“Blue Eyed”- the educational workshop of Jane Elliot,
Irena Sendlerowa – educational materials for Polish students, Nardowe Centrum Kultury, 2009
“…As In Days Gone By”- Struggling for Cultural and Spiritual Life in Ghetto Lodz, edited by Yad Vashem,
Everyday Life in the Warsaw Ghetto, Yad Vashem
Visual Documentation (Photos, Scanned Materials):
Recordings in Polish of meetings, photos.
Practical Suggestions for Adaptation and Implementation in the Educational System:
According to the views presented in the previous points the teaching about the Holocaust and the human
rights can be realized interdisciplinary with the incorporation of variety of materials, technical solutions and
the Internet.
On the basis of the real material such as interviews and meetings with survivors workshops can be
organized during which the issue of human rights violation and reference to the contemporary days and
human rights violation can be discussed and analysed. It is important to create a step-by-step sensitivity in
the students and let them learn about the problems of the Holocaust and antisemitism gradually, in different
forms, interdisciplinary to achieve natural sensitivity and teach them how not to be indifferent to injustice,
humiliation of other people, xenophobia, racism and antisemitism. To teach young people respect and love
of human dignity.
The main subject of the project, “Human Rights Violation - Dillemmas of Bystanders”, was realized with the
help of the chosen chapters from the book of Symcha Guterman “Kartki z pozogi” and meetings with PhD
Jan Przedpelski, the author of the book “Jews in Plock”, which described life in Plock ghetto, testimonies of
Ms Halina Elczewska – Lodz ghetto survivor, and the workshops in History Meeting House in Warsaw
based on the life in Warsaw ghetto.
The combination of these three painful places demanded clear explanation to students as to what the
differences were between them (Plock – open, small ghetto with guards at gates , Warsaw – more contact
with “Aryan side”, Lodz – the most isolated ghetto from the rest of the town).
The students noticed there were different realities in each of the ghettos:
In Plock and Warsaw there were more possibilities to help Jewish people (people brought food, helped to
produce a false Kennkarte, smuggled children to hidden places, e.g. in Mariawits’ Convent in Plock).
At the workshops in The History Meeting House in Warsaw students found out about numerous hiding
places for Jews in the city, the ways of masking them and hairdressers’ which helped Jewish women to dye
their hair. They also observed another side of the openness of these ghettos – Polish blackmailers who
threatened escapees from ghettos and demanded money from them.
All the participants in the meeting with a Lodz ghetto survivor agreed that the ghetto functioned as a “smallscale city” and was one of the most isolated from the rest of town. The attitudes of the bystanders were
analysed by the students on the basis of Ms Elczewska’s story about a Polish technician who helped to
repair telephone exchange. The man asked her if she needed any help and brought medicine for her father
who suffered dysentery. The story raised students’ interest, they asked questions to find out more about the
men, his reactions, motives and what he risked.
Although the realities in the three ghettos were different, for students, the possibility of finding out
about the conditions of living allowed them to have a bigger perspective for the problem of the
isolation of Jews at the beginning of war. What is worth mentioning for 20% of the students were not
aware of this isolation. 70 % had heard about the ghettos and another 10% could describe the
conditions of living and the fate of the Jewish people at the time of war. They reacted with
compassion; the testimonies, workshops, stories and films triggered their interest in the subject.
ii. Ingrida Vilkiene
Title of the Project:
Human Rights Violation, The Role and Dilemmas of Bystanders before and (at the time of) the Holocaust.
Name of the Coordinator:
Ingrida Vilkiene
Name of the School/ institution :
The International Commission for the evaluation of the crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation regimes in
Lithuania, http://www.komisija.lt
EU Member State:
Lithuania
Number of Students Involved in the Project and their ages/grades:
10 (for two years) and 25 students have been involved this year (in 2010) – 16-19 years.
Involvement of Advisors and/or Other Institutions (if applicable) 2 :
Katarzyna Korsak, a teacher in English at the Secondary School of Merchant and Economics (Zespol Szkol
Ekonomiczno-Kupieckich) in Plock.
Project Description and Didactic Objectives:
Three EU Member States originally cooperated on this project: Lithuania (Vilnius), Poland (Plock) and The
Netherlands (Amsterdam). The aim of the project was to find similarities and differences concerning
violations of the human rights of Jews among the three countries as regarding the method and time in which
the events occurred and the role that civilians had.
It was also to provide common evaluations of the historical events; in every country the course of events
was different. In Poland, persecution of Jews started in 1939 from the first days of Nazi rule, whereas in
Lithuania, the violent aggression against Jews began two years later, a month and in some places two
months after the occupation of 1941 June 22nd
The German occupation of the Netherlands started in May 1940. Soon after it, the first anti-Jewish laws
removed Jews from their professions, their schools, and their homes.
Constantly introducing new orders with further restrictions, they slowly but gradually tightened the noose,
depriving the Jewish people of more and more liberties. It was only a matter of time before the Nazis could
carry out their wicked plan of total extermination.
2
During the early stages of this project, Maria van Haperen, a historian who works as an education specialist at the Centre for
Holocaust and Genocide studies/ Dutch Institute for War Documentation (CHGS/NIOD) in Amsterdam was involved.
Successful implementation of the project largely depended on the number of witnesses who can give their
testimonies of the dramatic events. We looked for the reactions of the people who remembered the
beginning of the Nazi occupation. We tried to find the attitude of people - how they reacted to the violation of
human rights of Jews in Lithuania. Together we had named this project “Bystanders”.
Step-by-Step Work Plan and Timetable in Chart Form:
Task
The first meeting of participants of the project (at Zverynas gymnasium,
Vilnius)
The film “Uncle Chatzkel” (at Zverynas gymnasium)
Annex 7
Visit to Jewish museum. The aim of this visit was to introduce the participants
of the project with a history of the Holocaust in Lithuania.
Participation in the commemoration of 27th of January (the commemoration
was among Jewish community of Lithuania). There were presented the
educational reel “Witnesses of Holocaust Tell…”
Meeting with Holocaust witnesses at the Jewish community of Lithuania in
Vilnius; 4 interviews with Holocaust survivors about the period in 1941.
Annex 8, Annex 9
Deciphering of the material
The creation of the internet page about the project.
http://www.bystanders.vhost.lt/
Meeting with Marija Senkuviene, a witness of Holocaust, and a Lithuanian
woman. The interview with her was about bystanders.
Annex 10
Short drama presentation in Yad Vashem in June. Teachers from Lithuania
participated in the summer seminar. Material from the project was used. In
line with this material, teachers from Lithuania enacted a short play about
bystanders.
The meeting with Ms.Vilija Jureniene, a witness of Holocaust, and a
Lithuanian woman. The interview was about the situation in 1941 and about
bystanders.
Annex 11
Participation in the commemoration of the Genocide day of Lithuania’s Jews
(Paneriai, Vilnius)
Annex 12
The meeting of project participants at the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum
Tolerance Centre.
A workshop with the material of the exhibition: “Surviving History, portraits
from Vilna”. This exhibition tells about 10 people who survived and their
stories are presented through their artifacts.
Annex 13
Annex 14
Meeting of the participants at Zverynas gymnasium. Discussion about the
continuation of the project.
25 students from Vilnius Lazdynai Secondary School were involved to this
Date
December 10, 2008
January 6, 2009
January 22, 2009
January 27, 2009
8th of April, 2009
April – May – June – July
(2009)
April – May (2009)
7th of May, 2009
June, 2009
June 22, 2009
23th of September, 2009
8th of October, 2009
15th of October, 2009
From 15th October until the
project.
The project partner Katarzyna Korsak from Poland sent the book Symcha
Guterman „Kartki z pożogi” in Polish.
Vilnius Lazdynai Secondary School is a two language school: Russian and
Polish. The students from Polish 12 form were involved in this project to do
translations from Polish in Lithuanian.
The translation texts of the book „Kartki z pożogi” about Holocaust in Plock
(Poland).
The open (2) lessons- workshop at Vilnius Lazdynai Secondary School with
Polish 12 form. This workshop was organized to present the material from the
project (material from interviews) and material from the book „Kartki z pożogi”
(„The pictures from Hell”). Also, it was a test to analyse the situation in
Lithuania and Poland in the same time- when the Nazis invaded these
countries: what were the differences in the societies of these countries? What
were the similarities? What was the role of bystanders in these countries?
Also, the students got acquainted with the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights of 1948.
Annex 15
Annex 16
Annex 17
Workshop with participants of the project at Vilnius Zverynas gymnasium.
(The participants were 10 students). The workshop was organized as in
Lazdynai Secondary School (in 26 of January, 2010).
Annex 18
The creation of methodology for teachers from the material of the project
Seminar for the teachers in Klaipeda (the western part of Lithuania). The
material of the project was presented. The workshop was done with material
from interviews, material from the book „Kartki z pożogi” and document the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). The discussion about
bystanders in Lithuania was in the end of the workshop.
The participants in the seminar were 23.
Annex 19
The interview with Jonas Kadzionis, who is the witnesses of the WWII. The
interview was taken in Kavarskas (district of Anyksciai). Jonas Kadzionis is
an eighty-three-year old man, who has good memory about relationships
between Jews and Lithuanian’s before WWII and how the relationships
changed when the Nazi came.
Annex 20
Seminar for teachers in Birzai (northern Lithuania). There was the seminar
according the same plan as Klaipeda.
The participants in this seminar totalled50.
Seminar for teachers in Kedainiai (central Lithuania). Some material of the
project was presented during this seminar.
The total number of participants in this seminar were 37.
Plans for the end:
To translate the material of the project from Lithuanian to English;
To put all the material of the project onto the website of the project;
To distribute the material of the project to other teachers as far as we can;
middle of November, 2009
December – January, 2010
26th of January, 2010
11th of February, 2010
February, 2010
26th of February, 2010
20th of March, 2010
1st of April, 2010
29-30 of April, 2010
These plans are for a few
months (until the autumn of
2010)
The conclusion:
There were 35 students participating in this project.
7 interviews were taken (4 Jews and 3 Lithuanians).
2 workshops were organized at Museums.
2 workshops were organized for the students, who participated in this project
(they worked with material of the project).
73 teachers participated in workshops, which were organized with material of
this project.
37 teachers received documents (interviews, the methods) from this project.
Objectives and Rationale:
Content and Context:
The students and teachers of the above schools share a common interest in the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied
Lithuania in 1941, which resulted in the near total destruction of Lithuanian Jews living in the Nazi-controlled
Lithuanian territories. In order to get a deeper understanding of that period, we have set the following goals:
• Learn more about life of Jews in Lithuania in 1941;
• Meet the Jews –witnesses of the Holocaust, to listen to their stories, to write their stories;
• Present their testimonies on the website of the project.
The content of this project is to find out the role of bystanders. The majority of the population in Lithuania
were bystanders. They saw the violation of human rights (at first), and later they saw or knew about mass
killings. It is very big challenge to speak about the role of bystanders. But it is very important, because we
can all become the victims in our time, in many situations.
Pedagogical/Didactic Aims
To analyze the cases of the violations of human rights of Jews before the Holocaust.
To get to know the people who witnessed the humiliation of Jews but either did not react to it and remained
indifferent, or chose to be bystanders.
To become acquainted with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and to analyse texts from
interviews.
Methodological Approaches:
We used the following methods:
• Interviews (how to hold an interview, how to ask, how to write and decipher texts);
• Workshops with exhibitions;
• Documents, analysis of primary sources as well as materials from meetings with people;
• Reviews of films and discussions
We have received interesting material from the meetings with witnesses. This material is used for the
creation of a methodology for this topic: the violation of human rights and role of bystanders.
The main aim of this methodology is to be used by teachers in the educational process.
Practical Challenges Faced by the Coordinators and Resolution Strategies:
At first when we, began this project, we thought about the possibility of doing common work with
conclusions about the projects in every country.
This project was continued between two partners and it was successful, in that we had the possibility to
receive some material about Poland. Students and teachers compared the information about Lithuania and
Poland during the Nazi occupation. It gave a deeper understanding about the complicated relationship of
societies in Lithuania and Poland.
The biggest challenge of this project was that most of the material is in Lithuanian and not in English. If
more material had been in English, we could have gained more exposure to this project via the websites of
FRA,Yad Vashem and possibly others
Finding elderly people who could remember the dramatic events, and who were willing to share their
memories of what they had witnessed during this short period proved to bea very difficult task. Jews were
no longer seen in public places after establishing ghettos in Vilnius on September 6, 1941. Most people
were aware of ghettos and knew that Jews were taken there. Some Lithuanian bystanders showed
compassion toward Jewish people, whereas most lived their ordinary lives and were not surprised when
their Jewish neighbors suddenly disappeared.
Technical Equipment Requirements (if applicable):
Equipment was needed to record witnesses.
Primary Source Materials and Online Resources:
Books:
Symcha Guterman, Kartki z pożogi, TNP („The Pictures from the Hell”).
With a Needle in the Heart (2003, Vilnius)
Documents:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
Films:
Uncle Chatzkel (Film Australia, 1999)
The Witnesses of the Holocaust Tell (The International Commission and the USC Shoah Foundation
Institute(USA))
The website of the project was created:
http://www.bystanders.vhost.lt/
Visual Documentation (Photos, Scanned Materials):There are records from interviews (in Lithuanian,
some of them translated in English) from the meetings with witnesses, and photos.
iii. Szilvia Pető-Dittel, Tibor Pécsi
Title of the Project:
Educational Study Tour to Authentic Sites
Name of the Coordinators:
Szilvia Pető-Dittel, Tibor Pécsi
Hungarian educators Szilvia Pető-Dittel and Tibor Pécsi have participated in Yad Vashem teacher-training
seminars. These high school teachers, also affiliated with the Holocaust Museum in Budapest, decided to
organize an educational project for interested students and their teachers on Holocaust remembrance in
September 2008.
Name of the School:
Peter Bornemisza High School, Holocaust Memorial Center, www.hdke.hu.
EU Member State:
Hungary
Number of Students Involved in the Project:
45
Ages and Grade Levels of the Students:
15-22
Involvement of Advisors and/or Other Institutions (if applicable):
Holocaust Memorial Center (Budapest, Hungary), ITF, Yad Vashem
Project Description and Didactic Objectives:
How the Project Has Raised Awareness about Human Rights and the Holocaust?
The project entailed organizing a 3-5 day guided study tour for a group of 52 people, including teachers and
their students, to visit historical sites in Western Hungary and the bordering Austrian areas. This project
provided the participants a unique opportunity to face their local and national history and address human
rights issues. The uniqueness of the sites left a strong impression on the group. For instance, many
participants found it difficult to comprehend how such horrible acts had been committed in such picturesque
settings. Moreover, during this guided tour students had a first-hand opportunity to see and hear about the
events of the Holocaust that took place in Hungary, carried out by the local population. Since experts and
Holocaust survivors and/or their family members also took part in this educational journey, participants had
an opportunity not only to learn about the facts but also to discuss their feelings and reactions.
Step-by-Step Work Plan and Timetable in Chart Form:
Task
Defining the goals, choosing the sites, contacting
the people (experts, survivors, organizers, etc.,),
looking after the practical side of the project
(renting the bus, booking the accommodation.)
Advertising the trip, inviting the students/people
interested
First meeting with participants, preparation of the
tour, giving out assignments
The realization of the trip
Follow up meeting with the teachers of the
students (who also participated)
Date
January-April, 2008.
May-June, 2008.
Early September, 2008.
Late September, 2008.
October, 2008.
Objectives and Rationale:
a)
Content and Context:
The project was based on the experience of a similar pilot-program organized in the previous year, taking
students to various Holocaust-related sites and Jewish sites throughout Hungary. It was decided this time to
focus on one particular region, where many sites remained or memorials have been erected linked to one
central topic, in this case, forced labor service and the death marches. The rationale behind this
consideration was to make sure that students understand that the Holocaust was not restricted to one
geographical place, namely Auschwitz-Birkenau, but took place in the fields of many different countries.
Consequently, the same methods and approach can overall be applied in many countries across Europe
where Holocaust-related events actually happened.
The focus of the study tour was to visit: a) sites of pre-war Jewish life such as synagogues, cemeteries,
schools attesting to cultural and religious Jewish life in the chosen regions, and b) authentic Holocaust sites
of the Hungarian Jewry, i.e. ghettos, internment and forced labor camps, as well as killing sites - especially
in northwest of Hungary in the vicinity of the Austro-Hungarian border. The responsibility of the Hungarian
authorities for the deportation of Hungarian Jews was also addressed along with issues relating to human
rights, as outlined in the Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. The aim of this project was to teach about
the Holocaust outside the classroom where the events took place and thereby connect elements of historical
knowledge, commemoration and personal reflection through a learning experience. This experience raised
awareness among the students about the importance of being sensitive towards minorities (such as Jewish
people, Roma, etc;) that may face discrimination or persecution of any kind, whether verbal, physical or
both.
The trip did not only concentrate on visiting Holocaust-related sites due to our strong conviction that we
should not teach about the Holocaust without first describing local Jewish life before the war. Only by
learning first about pre-war Jewish life can students understand that the very same former inhabitants who
attended Jewish schools and synagogues, as well as whose relatives were buried in Jewish cemeteries,
were the same human beings who were driven away and brutally killed in many cases by their own fellow
countrymen. Just as one would not start reading a play in the third act, we could not skip these chapters
leading to the escalation of the Holocaust. Present day Jewish life in Hungary was also discussed at each
relevant place.
b) Pedagogical/Didactic Aims
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Participants explored less known or unknown chapters in local Jewish related national
history
Participants from throughout Hungary were presented with educational goals, trip
itineraries and assignments to be done in preparation for the study tour. Each day the
group visited places of interest on the way to the final destination, Eisenertz in Austria,
and stopped in bigger cities (like Sopron) during the evenings.
Students met Austrian students who had been involved in building one of the major
memorial sites of Hungarian Jews who died in the Alps.
By visiting the authentic sites, and listening to many dedicated people in the periphery,
students were emotionally touched during the process of learning.
Students organized a commemoration ceremony, so they actively reacted to their
impressions.
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Teachers shared copies of documents related to the sites that had been uncovered in the
framework of local history projects conducted together with their students
Professional network was formed among the teachers. The educators remain in contact,
and help each other whenever any type of assistance is needed for their future projects.
Methodological Approaches:
a) At each site an expert/or historical expert, usually a person, who had earlier completed a
Yad Vashem professional development seminar, guided the group at the site. Participants
also added their findings regarding the places, be it historical research, written testimonies
or personal stories.
b) At many places along the Austrian border, local Austrian historians helped the participants
gain a better understanding of the circumstances in which many Hungarian forced labor
victims of Jewish origin lost their lives a few months, weeks or days prior to liberation in
1945. Whenever possible, a survivor or representative of “the second generation” of
survivors also joined the group at the site. S/he conveyed her/his personal story or family
story in connection to the site. Towards the end of the trip, participants were expected to
organize a memorial ceremony following their impressions of the guided tour. Moreover,
four wreath-laying ceremonies were also held at the different mass graves and memorials
of where Hungarian Jews had been shot. The commemorations demanded active
cooperation from part of the participants. In this way, the group not only gained additional
information about the historical events, but also they developed empathy for the victims
who had become personalized. By remembering them, the participants restored the
victims’ human identities.
c) During the tour, teachers and their students completed forms with diary-like guided
questions distributed in advance. In the questionnaire participants were asked – among
other questions - about their most surprising experience during the day, about what was
new information for them, something that they would like to ask and learn more about, etc.
The forms served as a way to follow up with the organizers and provide professional
feedback for evaluation purposes.
d) Students read aloud an unpublished letter of a Jewish father to his nine year old son
(relative of one of the teachers) during the trip
e) Students drew illustrations and maps in response to listening to survivors’ testimonies.
f) Participants prepared notebooks and pencils for everyone in the group, similar to the one
that the famous Hungarian poet of Jewish origin, Miklos Radnóti, used before we was
murdered during a death march. Students could keep record of their experiences and
personal reflections of the trip in these special notebooks that always remind them of the
poet and his tragic fate. Radnóti’s poems were read aloud along with the poems of other
murdered Jewish Hungarian literary figures.
g) Yad Vashem Pages of Testimonies were also used when speaking about the victims.
h) Participants organized their own commemoration ceremony. Every one contributed with a
chosen piece of literature or music.
Practical Challenges Faced by the Coordinators and Resolution Strategies:
The most difficult challenge was fundraising. To be able to provide bus transportation and accommodation
for the participants, a small registration fee was collected, but most of the support was raised from outside
sources.
The second challenge was finding the most appropriate participants, lecturers, guides and survivors for the
tour.
Technical Equipment Requirements (if applicable):
The Internet, computer (in the preparation phase)
Copy machine (for handout materials)
Primary Source Materials and Online Resources:
www.degob.hu : this is the website of the records of survivor testimonies (mostly in Hungarian) taken right
after the war.
www.hdke.hu
www.holokausztmagyarorszagon.hu
www.yadvashem.org (Pages of Testimony of Hungarian Victims)
Randolph Braham: A holokauszt földrajzi enciklopédiája
Szabolcs Szita: Munkaszolgálat Magyarország nyugati határán. A birodalmi védőállás építése.
Visual Documentation (Photos, Scanned Materials):
Practical Suggestions for Adaptation and Implementation in the Educational System:
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The project can be adapted anywhere where there are enough marked authentic sites
Students should be carefully prepared before the study trip and a follow-up activity should be
organized afterwards
Personal meetings with Holocaust survivors should be included in the program (if possible)
Various methodological approaches and source materials should be used in an interdisciplinary
way (drawings, poems, maps, diaries, testimonies, songs, etc)