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“Teaching Remembrance”
The Council of Europe at Yad Vashem
by Richelle Budd Caplan
First Seminar from
Spain
Recent Highlights
at the International School for Holocaust Studies
Helping Survivors
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Council of Europe
representatives at Yad Vashem |
Over the last decade, there has been
an increasing interest across Europe to teach and commemorate the
Holocaust and crimes against humanity on a number of levels:
local, regional, national and within the wider European context.
This interest comes despite the growing wave of antisemitic
expression on the continent, which has become more pronounced over
the past few years. Since the late 1990s, staff at the
International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem have
participated in several conferences focusing on teaching and
remembering the Holocaust in the twenty-first century, including
those coordinated under the auspices of the Task Force for
International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and
Research, and the Council of Europe.
On September 15-21, 2003—the
week Yad Vashem began to mark its Jubilee Year—an
international forum organized with the Council of Europe was held
for the first time at the School, as part of the Asper
International Holocaust Studies Program (see box). The Council,
located in Strasbourg, France, was founded in 1949 and includes
over 40 member states to date. Israel is an observer nation.
Representatives from nine
countries—Austria, Croatia, Finland, France, Italy, Luxembourg,
Romania, Slovakia and the United Kingdom—participated in the
forum. They were also invited to attend the Jubilee Year opening
event, and were given guided tours of Jerusalem.
The forum was opened by Gabriele Mazza,
the Council’s Director of School, Out-of-School and Higher
Education, and Avner Shalev, Chairman of the Yad Vashem
Directorate. In his opening remarks, Mazza stated: “Being here, in
Israel—and more importantly at Yad Vashem—to hold a forum under
the auspices of the Council of Europe’s project ‘Teaching
Remembrance: Education for the Prevention of Crimes Against
Humanity’ is more than symbolic. The Council has already held
several seminars devoted to the teaching of the Holocaust in
various places, but we all know that discussing this very topic
here, in Israel, is a very different way of touching the subject.”
Before arriving in Jerusalem, all
participants were asked to prepare concise responses to two
questions: ‘Why teach the Holocaust in your country?’ and ‘What
are the main religious, political, economic, historical,
educational and social issues in your country that have direct
bearing on your educational work?’ The responses were e-mailed to
all the participants, and compiled in a booklet prepared by the
School. The issues raised by the questions were varied, and often
reflected national concerns: the current upsurge in antisemitism
(France); public and media confusion between the terms ‘Holocaust’
and ‘genocide’ (UK); the importance of film, literature and TV in
Holocaust education (Italy) as well as visits to authentic sites,
such as Mauthausen (Austria); and the role of the Catholic Church
during the War (Slovakia). Presentations and discussions included
lectures by Yad Vashem staff, as well as Dr. Emil Shufani,
principal of a Christian-Arab school in Nazareth and recent
recipient of the UNESCO peace education prize. Shufani addressed
the forum on a trip he organized for Israeli Arabs and Jews to
Auschwitz-Birkenau in May 2003.
During the final session, participants
reflected upon their experiences during the week-long forum. Not
only had they broadened their knowledge and awareness of various
aspects of the Holocaust but, more importantly, they were planning
to share what they had learned with colleagues upon their return
home. They also expressed thanks for the warm atmosphere of the
group, and emphasized that being in Israel had added an important
dimension to the seminar. It is hoped that this will be the first
in a number of seminars on Holocaust education for European
educators held in association with the Council of Europe at Yad
Vashem.
The author is
Director of the Asper International Holocaust Studies Program,
International School for Holocaust Studies
Copyright ©2004 Yad Vashem The Holocaust
Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority |
