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Norway
Day of Remembrance:
27 January
Historical Background:
On the morning of 27 January, 1945, the Soviet Army entered
Auschwitz III, followed by Birkenau and Auschwitz I later that
afternoon. Altogether, they liberated some 7650 prisoners. During
WWII, the Nazis murdered over one million Jews in the Auschwitz
concentration and extermination camps.
Norway and the Holocaust:
Lexicon entry from Yad Vashem's online Holocaust Resource Center:
Norway
Educational Activities:
The National Plan of Action to Combat Racism and Discrimination
states that Holocaust Memorial Day will be commemorated in schools
each year. In addition, one school is awarded the Benjamin Prize,
named after a 15-year-old Norwegian boy who was the victim of a
racially-motivated murder. On Holocaust Memorial Day the Holocaust
Centre conducts a memorial ceremony in Oslo at the site where the
Norwegian Jews were deported. Members of the government attend both
these arrangements.
The Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education invites all
schools to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day, and provides
educational resources on its website. Schools commemorate 27 January
in various ways. Some have local torch-lit processions and some
invite witnesses or survivors to tell their stories. Many schools and
classes encourage creative activities such as writing poems and
painting.
Holocaust education is mandatory in Norwegian schools. This is made
clear both in the national curriculum for the 10-year compulsory
school in Norway and in the National Plan of Action to Combat Racism
and Discrimination. The curriculum offers schools and teachers a wide
degree of flexibility in selecting their own educational material
and teaching methods.
The Holocaust is included in teaching about WWII in the history
syllabus (Grade 9 and Grade 12). It is also included in the social
sciences syllabus as part of human rights education, and in the
syllabus for Christian Knowledge and Religious and Ethical Education.
It has become more and more common for schools to organise or take
part in study trips to visit former extermination and concentration
camps in Germany and Poland, such as Auschwitz-Birkenau,
Sachsenhausen and Ravensbruck.
In 2001 the Centre for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities
in Norway was established as the main institution in the field of
Holocaust research, documentation, information and education.
Educational Activities on Holocaust
Memorial Day:
Details on Holocaust Memorial Day in Norway can
be found on this site:
http://www.hlsenteret.no/Undervisning/Holocaustdagen_27._januar
Websites and Teaching Aids:
Norwegian Board of Education:
www.ls.no
Villa Quisling Museum:
www.chn.ir
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