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What’s New at the International School for Holocaust Studies?
The Scope of the International School for Holocaust
Studies
Although
the School has been organizing teacher-training seminars abroad since 1997, in
2004, 39 trips were coordinated in 22 different countries, predominantly
throughout Europe. According to Richelle Budd Caplan, who is responsible for
the International Relations division of the School, the programming in 2004
increased by almost 25% over that in 2003.
In January and February
2005 alone, School staff members have travelled to Austria, Croatia, France,
Greece, Italy, Poland, Ukraine and the USA to promote Holocaust education and
remembrance. In the coming year, additional workshops will also be given in
Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, UK and in the
USA.
If you are interested in
organizing a teacher-training seminar with a Yad Vashem pedagogical expert in
your region, please contact Richelle Budd Caplan at
richelle.buddcaplan@yadvashem.org.il
The European Department
At the beginning of March 2005, the new European
Department was formed at the International School for Holocaust Studies. This
department aims to expand Holocaust education in Europe, especially within
formal education frameworks. In recent years, many European countries have
expressed their willingness to include Holocaust education within their
national curriculum, as well as develop educational materials and pedagogical
training programs.
The work of the new department
has been primarily funded
by the generous donation of The International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims-ICHEIC.
The Commission plans to continue funding the activities of the department over
the next ten years.
The European Department has
two main goals:
- Teacher training in Europe
to foster Holocaust education.
- Preparation of educational
materials for students and educators throughout Europe.
Teacher Training:
The International School for
Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem provides teachers, in Israel and abroad, with
historical knowledge as well as pedagogical guidelines on how to teach this
difficult and complex subject matter in an age-appropriate and
interdisciplinary way. In addition to focusing on Holocaust history, the
International School for Holocaust Studies presents a wide range of didactic
approaches for educators.
The European Department plans
to implement educational approaches that have already been successfully
tested by
the International School for Holocaust Studies in Israel and around the world.
In order to create an
effective learning process for teachers, the European Department offers ongoing
teacher-training programs. The training process includes a preliminary meeting
with educators in their respective countries, a two-week seminar at Yad Vashem,
and a follow-up seminar for teachers in their countries of origin.
Some of these sessions are
also geared for individuals who work at Holocaust memorial sites, museums, and
research departments in Europe, whose jobs involve educational activities
pertaining to the Holocaust.
Educational Materials:
In addition to professional
development and training, the European Department also develops educational
materials for teachers and students outside of Israel. Some of these
materials focus on general Holocaust–related topics,
and are appropriate for use in a variety of countries. In addition, many of
these kits have been developed for the specific needs of individual countries.
The European Department produces lesson plans that focus on specific areas, as
well as broader educational
units that include a number of lessons in a given area.
The educational materials
produced by the European Department at the International School for Holocaust
Studies are made available in a variety of formats. The department
designs
conventional educational resources, such as books, teachers’ guides, and
student workbooks. The department also offers online lesson plans and
educational units, available through Yad Vashem’s website.
During this coming year,
the department will offer online professional development courses for teachers.
This will be the first online distance education endeavor offered by Yad Vashem
for non-Israeli teachers.
The educational materials will
be prepared for teachers in their native languages.
Activities of the European Department:
Since the department’s
establishment in March 2005, a number of training sessions have been organized.
For example,
In March 2005 Yad Vashem
coordinated a seminar for directors of memorial sites and heads of
municipalities from Hungary. This was the first seminar of its kind at Yad
Vashem, and the department has plans to strengthen its connections with
memorial and commemoration sites throughout the European continent.
In addition to the Hungarian
seminar, there was a seminar for teachers from Russia who came to Yad Vashem
for their first time to become acquainted with innovative methods of teaching the
Holocaust in the classroom.
In April 2005 two Yad Vashem
experts will work with educators abroad. For example, a seminar for Hungarian
teachers, and a seminar for teachers and members of the police force in Austria
will be held at the Mauthausen concentration camp site near Linz. In addition,
a staff member of the School will work with an estimated 250 educators in three
different cities in Hungary.
In the coming months in
2005, the European Department will organize seminars for educators from the
following countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, The Czech Republic, England,
Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden and the
Ukraine.
New Educational Units
Lodz
As In Days Gone By
is a unique multimedia program that traces the cultural and spiritual life
in the Lodz Ghetto.
The protagonists are the Jews of Lodz, who, despite being
trapped in an almost impossible historical reality, tried to live their lives as they had in the
past. During times of starvation, disease and death, survival became the
main objective in life. The struggle for the survival of the body entailed
the struggle to save the soul as well.
The CD-ROM offers dynamic
activities for creating a personal journey. The presentation is linked to the database,
which contains photographs, video testimonies, a lexicon, a timeline, and
articles, as well as the other texts that are used in the presentation.
All the original texts were written
during the war years. The original short films and most of the photographs
were taken in the Lodz Ghetto. All of the other materials were taken from
other places in Europe during the war. The video testimonies were filmed
decades after the war.
Both
the written and videotaped testimonies, the memoirs, and the documents of
the period all record history and recount the personal experiences of
people in distress.
The program was produced by the International School for Holocaust
Studies at Yad Vashem.
This
multimedia program was made possible by the generous support of the Dan
Family, Canada and
through the assistance of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against
Germany.
Theresienstadt
Between the Worlds is a unique multimedia program
examining social frameworks and relations between residents in the
Theresienstadt ghetto. The CD-ROM focuses on the different categories of
which the Jews of the ghetto belonged -such as children and adults.
In the world controlled by the Germans, Jews were denied
freedom, and almost any choice over their way of life. An examination of
Jews' lives in the ghetto illustrates their desire to live alongside despair and death.
The CD-ROM provides a presentation linked to a comprehensive database - video testimonies,
lexicon, chronological timeline, historical articles and other texts that
are found in the presentation.
The program was produced by the International School for
Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem.
This multimedia program was made possible by the generous support of the Dan
Family, Canada and
through the assistance of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
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