The international antenna of the Holocaust Memorial

The Memorial program “The Shoah as a starting point” is taking on new dimensions in 2021. There are now 11 regional dialogues between countries with different memorials or historical that constitute the backbone of this mechanism. Each dialogue brings together education authorities and NGOs on a transnational basis to support in-depth work with secondary school teachers and is based on training courses developed jointly and according to local issues. In addition to the increase in the number of operations proposed, this year 2021 is characterized by the inclusion of a systematic follow-up meeting for the same beneficiaries, 6 months after each dialogue, and the creation of dedicated websites where teachers can consult the documentation needed for their personal preparation. Due to the pandemic, all events in the first half of 2021 are held online.

Since January, 5 courses have been organized

• • Spain-Portugal
  • Italy-Croatia-Slovenia
  • Hungary-Slovakia
  • Albania-Serbia-North Macedonia
  • Greece-Bulgaria-North Macedonia

The program is supported by the Claims Conference.

In Italy

The Memorial of the Shoah has had a permanent correspondent in Italy since 2008. Continuing education, partnerships with the museums of the Resistance and the university network are the main axes of the Memorial’s work in the peninsula.
In 2014, nearly 1,300 professors took part in the seminars organized by the Memorial, including the fourth Italian university “Thinking and teaching about the history of the Shoah”, which was held from 22 to 27 June at the Memorial de la Shoah in Paris.

Read also: University for Italian teachers

In Poland

Poland is at the heart of the policies of the Holocaust Memorial: trips by students and teachers to Auschwitz-Birkenau, summer school for French teachers, mixed pedagogical university, reception of Polish educational staff at the Memorial.
The Agency for Education, the Polin Museum, the Historical Institute and the French Embassy are the key interlocutors of the Memorial’s representative in Poland, who is responsible for supporting qualitative cooperation.

Read also: Study trips to Auschwitz

In the USA

In this country where the network of associations and memorial institutions is dense, the Memorial decided to rely on local actors to circulate two major exhibitions («Filmer les camps» and «Hélène Berr») have been the subject of a special adaptation. Around these vernissages that mark this annual programming, the Memorial correspondent organizes teacher training upstream on a regional basis.

Read also: Expo «Filmer les camps»

International seminars

The Memorial implements, each year, a series of training in Europe with the mission to make known the history of the Shoah, to bring a renewed reflection on mass crimes, state violence and to share all the historiographical advances on these subjects.
Beyond the teaching staff, these seminars are aimed at various representatives of civil society and administrations (journalists, history teachers, civil servants, activists). The participation of experts and museum officials is also encouraged.

The continuing training of history teachers is lacking in many European education systems, most often in countries with significant memory challenges such as Greece, Estonia, Ukraine or Macedonia. The Memorial thus builds long-term partnerships in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, while developing new partnerships at the request of local authorities or non-governmental associationsgovernment on regions hitherto not very sensitive to the problems of Shoah education (Portugal).

See the educational news to know more

THE IMPACT OF THE SHOAH MEMORIAL IN THE REGION