AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU

Auschwitz in Literature

The project, intended for pupils of the Poviat Complex of Economic and Gastronomy Schools No. 4 in Oświęcim, began in October 2010. Young people participated in workshops devoted to analysis of poems.

Within the project, a theatre group from Jasieniec came to Oświęcim (pupils of primary schools and middle schools). Pupils from Oświęcim and Jasieniec visited the area of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau camp and the town of Oświęcim. Subsequently, the theatre group presented their performance entitled “Remember My Name” to the pupils of the Poviat Complex of Schools. The participants also met the former camp prisoners, Batszewa Dagan and Zofia Łyś. There were also workshops at the national exhibitions in the Museum, as well as classes devoted to the analysis of poems of Batszewa Dagan and lectures on the history of Auschwitz and the Holocaust. The final stage of the project was a competition for the best analysis of the poem of Batszewa Dagan from the volume of poetry entitled: “Imagination: Blessed Be, Cursed Be!,” published in the monthly magazine “Oś Oświęcim — People — History — Culture” by the Auschwitz Museum and at the Internet site of the Museum.  

Educational Seminars in Israel for the Catholic Priests

In cooperation with the International Holocaust Teaching Centre of Yad Vashem, the Committee for Dialogue with Judaism, the Centre of Dialogue and Prayer and thanks to the assistance of the chairman of the Polish Episcopate Council for Religious Dialogue and the chairman of the Committee for Dialogue with Judaism, three seminars were organized by the Polish Catholic priests between 2008 and 2009.

The participants included members of the Committee for Dialogue with Judaism, organizers of the Day of Judaism in the Catholic Church in Poland, representatives of Catholic media, scientists, university lecturers, headmasters of Catholic schools and catechists. Before the departure, the participants met in Oświęcim at a seminar prepared by the Centre of Dialogue and Prayer and the MCEAH. The meeting was aimed at showing the history of KL Auschwitz and the specific nature and complexity of the issue of Auschwitz.

European Workshops

A cycle of seminars which is the realization of the Minister of National Education’s obligation that was undertaken during a seminar of the European Ministers of Education of the Council of Europe, which took place in Cracow and Oświęcim between 4 and 6 of May 2005.

The subject matter and the programme of seminars refer to the teaching about the remembrance in the context of the Holocaust Remembrance Day and Prevention of Crimes Against Humanity. Organizers of the seminars are: the Ministry of National Education, the Council of Europe, the International Centre for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust and the Pedagogical University of Cracow.

12-13, October 2007, Auschwitz —  History, Memory and Education. Teaching About the Holocaust in the Authentic Memorial Site
The programme of stay at the Memorial Site included: visit at the areas of the former camp, lectures, workshops and a meeting with Kazimierz Smoleń — a former camp prisoner and former director of the Museum. Seminar participants also visited the Oświęcim synagogue and the Jewish Educational Centre. Thirty-one people participated in the programme.

8-13, September 2008, Auschwitz — Memory for the Future. Education about the Holocaust in the Authentic Memorial Site
The programme of the seminar encompassed lectures and presentations about the history of Auschwitz and workshops devoted to the preparation of youth for a visit at the Memorial Site. The seminar participants also had the opportunity to share experiences in teaching about the Holocaust and the organization of the Remembrance Day in their countries. It was attended by twenty-seven teachers from member states of the Council of Europe and Israel.  

20-26, September 2009, Auschwitz and the Holocaust in the Context of Teaching Remembrance in Europe
The programme encompassed a visit in the former camp, meeting with a former prisoner, lectures devoted to the political and racist principles of the Nazi extermination policy and the significance of Auschwitz as the Memorial Site. The participants also visited a synagogue and the Jewish Centre, the Centre of Dialogue and Prayer and the International Youth Meeting Centre. They also went to the area of the former Jawischowitz camp and visited the SS-Solahütte centre in Międzybrodzie. The seminar was attended by twenty-four people.

26-29, May 2010, A seminar on education for the prevention of crimes against humanity
The subject matter and the programme of workshops referred to the teaching about Remembrance in the context of the Holocaust Remembrance Day and Prevention of Crimes against Humanity. The seminar was organized for twenty coaches, including graduates of the European Workshops and five experts training them. In the course of the seminar, the participants could their experiences regarding education devoted to the prevention of crimes against humanity. They presented and discussed scenarios of training classes that were devoted to this problem. The last day was spent at the Auschwitz Memorial Site.

Summer School: Teaching About the Holocaust

A project addressed to teachers, students, trainers and leaders of non-governmental organizations from the entire Poland that deal with the issue of the Holocaust, which was aimed at extending the knowledge about the ways of teaching about the Holocaust, enriching the methodological workshop and facilitating a cooperation with other teachers.

The participants of the project visited the area of the former camp, became acquainted with the content of the Collections Department and participated in workshops as well as in a lecture about the pedagogy in Memorial Sites.

The programme was a joint enterprise of the Polish institutions: the International Centre for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust in the State Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum in Oświęcim, the Centre for Holocaust Studies of the Jagiellonian University, the Institute of European Studies of the Jagiellonian University, and the American partner the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, Skokie, Illinois, the USA. Two hundred and fifty people participated in six editions of the Summer School.

Track

The Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds in Nuremberg, in cooperation with the MCEAH, implemented a project entitled “Track” that was carried between May 2010 and January 2011.

The project was intended to create a unique multimedia connection of Nuremberg, where the policy of racism and genocide was planned and implemented, with the places symbolizing the Holocaust. In this manner, the place where the Nuremberg Acts were announced in 1935, Auschwitz-Birkenau and the other Holocaust centres were connected. On May 18, the exhibition and installation were opened which remained available for visitors until October 2010.

Within the project, Polish and German cooperation was developed, along with the exchange of multiplier experiences from both countries. Two one-week seminars were scheduled for educators, pedagogues and employees of memorial sites from Poland and Germany, interested and involved in teaching about the Holocaust and WWII. The first of them took place between June 13 and 19, 2010 in Nuremberg, the other between September 5 and 10 in Poland.

Various Aspects of the Holocaust in Feature and Documentary Films

A project entitled “Various Aspects of the Holocaust in Feature and Documentary Films” began in October 2009. Its participants – pupils of Oświęcim higher schools – attended workshops in the area of national exhibitions in the Museum.

Moreover, they took part in classes devoted to film reviews and a number of lectures presenting the history of Auschwitz and the Holocaust. The final stage of the project was a competition for the best review of a feature or a documentary film related to the history of Auschwitz and the Holocaust. In the course of literary workshops, pupils got to know the principles of writing reviews, the position of reviews among other journalistic texts, their structure and purposes. During the film lectures, young people became acquainted with individual issues from the history of Auschwitz. The best review was published in the monthly magazine of the Museum: “Oś — Oświęcim — People — History — Culture.”

Withered Roses

A project intended for young people whose main purpose was to awaken and deepen the historic awareness, shape the stance of responsibility and inspire them to get to know the history of the closest area by searching for historical tokens. It was attended by young people from high schools from the Oświęcim Poviat.

Sixty people participated in two editions of the competition in 2007 and 2008. The project was distinguished in the category of Educational, Teaching and Promotional Programmes within the scope of the Museum Events of the Year, Sybilla 2006.