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Searching for
Answers
The New Learning
Center
by
Aviya Solomon-Hovav
“It is now clear that this challenging job of preserving memory
and passing it on to future generations cannot be accomplished
through historiography alone. Other means are necessary to achieve
this monumental task… In addition to historic questions such as
‘What happened?’ and ‘How did it happen?’ we must now include
another question: ‘How should it have been?’ We must not allow the
Holocaust to remain in the realm of large numbers and generalized
statements.”
Professor Aharon Appelfeld, author
and Holocaust survivor, Yad Vashem,
Holocaust Remembrance Day Eve, 1997
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The new Learning Center – group discussions and individual
study on major questions arising from the Holocaust
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Visitors to the new Holocaust History Museum will probably
encounter ethical, educational, theological and philosophical
dilemmas, as well as troubling issues that go beyond the mere
description of historic events: How did a cultured nation in 20th
century central Europe become the perpetrator of mass murder? What
makes the Holocaust a unique event? What happened to the concepts
of “good” and “evil” after the Holocaust? How has the trauma of
the Holocaust shaped world, Jewish and Israeli identity? How can
we inculcate the memory of the Holocaust in future generations?
The new Learning Center—presently under construction as part of
the new Museum complex at Yad Vashem and built through the
generosity of Stella and Sam Skura (USA)—will help visitors deal
with such questions and concerns, by guiding them in examining the
various aspects of these issues.
The Learning Center, otherwise known as the “Center for Major
Questions Arising from the Holocaust,” is no standard computerized
information center; it was designed for visitors to embark on a
journey of personal inquiry. Upon entering the Center, a shaft of
light gradually projects questions, like drops of water, towards
the middle of the floor, which then come together and circle the
room like waves of water. This reflects the idea that one question
is merely a drop in the ocean, but can generate waves upon waves
of additional questions in its wake.
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The new Learning Center – group discussions and individual
study on major questions arising from the Holocaust
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The Center will include between 10 and 20 basic questions that
demand thorough and serious study. A central area in the middle of
the room will enable groups to view and discuss some of these
questions through multimedia presentations, guided by trained
educators from the International School for Holocaust Studies. The
outer circle surrounding the central conference area will be
fitted with computer terminals and earphones enabling individual
or paired study. Here, visitors will see, hear and read opinions
on the “major questions” expressed by Holocaust survivors,
religious leaders and thinkers, writers, artists, historians and
prominent researchers. The researchers include Yad Vashem’s
leading historians—Professor Israel Gutman, Professor Yehuda
Bauer, Professor David Bankier and Professor Dan Michman—as well
as Professor Christopher Browning, Professor Raul Hilberg,
Professor Omer Bartov, Professor David Engel, Professor Eberhard
Jaeckel, Professor Steven Asheim, Professor George Ben-Shoshan,
and others. This type of encounter will be the key to productive
discussion and consideration. For those who wish to study the
questions in greater depth, Yad Vashem’s databases and learning
tools will also be available at the Learning Center.
The Learning Center, established as a joint project by the
Departments for Teacher Training, Instruction and Curricular
Development of the International School for Holocaust Studies, was
designed by the Mulli Ben Sasson Studio.
The author works in the Curricular Development Division of the
International School for Holocaust Studies, and is coordinating
the project.
Copyright ©2004 Yad Vashem The Holocaust
Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority |
