Education About Auschwitz and the Holocaust at Authentic Memorial Sites CURRENT STATUS and FUTURE PROSPECTS
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Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust at Authentic Memorial Sites CURRENT STATUS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS edited by Piotr Trojański Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust at Authentic Memorial Sites CURRENT STATUS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS edited by Piotr Trojański AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU STATE MUSEUM OŚWIĘCIM 2019 Review: Professor Jacek Chrobaczyński, Ph. D. Co-ordination: Katarzyna Odrzywołek Language review of the English version: Imogen Dalziel Translation of texts from German and English: Kinga Żelazko and Junique Translation Agency Setting and e-pub: Studio Grafpa Cover design: Studio Grafpa ISBN 9788377042847 © Copyright by Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum & the Authors The publication was created as part of a project implemented by the International Centre for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust, entitled ‘The Future of Auschwitz and Holocaust Education in Authentic Memorial Sites’, which was financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Table of Contents Introduction ........................................... 6 Part 1: Challenges Bartosz Bartyzel Educational Challenges at the Authentic Auschwitz Memorial Site ..... 11 Piotr Tarnowski Educational Challenges at the Stutthof Museum and Memorial Site from the Perspective of a Museum Pedagogue ..................... 19 Małgorzata Grzanka Education at the Museum of the Former German Extermination Camp Kulmhof in Chełmno-on-the-Ner ......................... 25 Joanna Podolska What do the Stones Tell Us? Education and Memory of the Place: The Example of the Bałuty District and the Łódź Ghetto in the Activity of the Dialogue Centre .......................... 39 Part 2: Prospects Marek Kucia and Katarzyna Stec Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust from the Perspective of Social Research ................................. 60 Alicja Bartuś On How to React to Evil: A Visit to Auschwitz and Attitude Shaping ... 92 / 4 / Table of Contents Agnieszka Kasperek Memorial Sites and their Role in Polish Language Teaching with Reference to the Shoah .................................. 110 Part 3: Good Practices Adam Musiał An Online Lesson Preparing for a Visit to the Auschwitz Memorial: The Authors’ Reflections and Remarks ........................... 128 Gabriel Dittrich “Education with a View to the Future”: The Campus Christophorus Jugendwerk Project ........................................ 136 Tomasz Michalik People with DisABILITIES at the Museum: From Cognitive and Ethical Challenges to Hope for a New Version of History .......... 152 Marcin Owsiński Implementation of Inclusive Pedagogy Assumptions at the Stutthof Museum ..................................... 167 Ewa Guziak History through Art: Historical Education of Teenagers with Disabilities at the Memorial Site through Polish-German Seminars ..... 180 Piotr Kondratowicz Emotions in the World of Silence: The Deaf at the Authentic Memorial Site – Auschwitz, where Silence may Mean More than a Thousand Words... ....................................... 201 Bibliography (selection) .................................. 207 / 5 / Introduction hat is education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust? Are there Wany specific features that distinguish it from education about the Second World War? How should it be implemented in an authen- tic memorial site? Do historical sites, such as the areas of the former concentration and extermination camps, have any influence on its form? If so, what consequences and challenges do they pose to educa- tional work? What should be done to increase access to memorial sites for young people with special educational needs? How can we prepare them for a visit to an authentic memorial site using new technologies, especially the Internet? These, and many more questions, inspired the authors of the chap- ters included in this publication. They were also the subject of discussion during an international conference held in Oświęcim from 10–12 Octo- ber 2018. The conference summarised a Polish-Dutch educational project entitled ‘The Future of Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust in an Authentic Memorial Site’, which was implemented between 2015– 2019 by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim and the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Its origin was connected with the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the KL Auschwitz camp, which was attended by King William Alexander of the Netherlands. After his visit to the Auschwitz Memorial Site, the King expressed his wish to support the Museum in its mission. Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands asked the Museum to prepare proposals for / 6 / Edukacja o Auschwitz i Holokauście w autentycznych miejscach pamięci activities that could be financed by the Dutch government. Following the decision of the Auschwitz Museum’s management, these activities assumed an educational character, and so the development of these ideas was assigned to a team at the International Centre for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust. The idea of involving the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam – which has been working with the Auschwitz Museum for years – in the project was born from the outset of the conceptual work. Following mutual consultations, it became apparent that both institutions face similar problems and challenges in education at an authentic memorial site. Furthermore, they both ask similar questions concerning, amongst others, the possibility and legitimacy of combining history with the present; the issues of preserving the authenticity of the memorial site; and challenges related to the specificity of different groups of recipi- ents. These types of questions that inspired the development of ‘The Future of Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust in an Authen- tic Memorial Site’. Therefore, the main objective of the project has evolved into the exchange of experiences within the scope of present-day challenges, and an attempt to find answers to the following questions: How can we connect the history of Auschwitz and the Holocaust with current human rights issues? How do we manage different groups of visitors? How can innovative teaching methods be used to reach a broad range of target groups? The project’s aims were implemented through five components: exchange of experiences between teachers, educators, and guides during study visits to Poland and the Netherlands; development of new educa- tional materials, especially e-lessons; adaptation of Memorial Site visits to the needs of people with special educational needs; and training for a group of young leaders to actively support the educational activities of the Auschwitz Museum in their community. The accomplishments of the project were presented during the aforementioned conference, which was attended by representatives of / 7 / Introduction various memorial sites from Poland and abroad, as well as by direc- tors and museum workers. It is worth mentioning that a special group of conference participants were teachers and museum educators, who participated in meetings in Poland and Holland as part of the project. Participants in the conference also included a group of young leaders who met during the project and exchanged ideas on how to combine knowledge about Auschwitz and the Holocaust with today’s problems. Two educational travelling exhibitions helped them to accomplish this task: ‘Anne Frank – A Story for Today’ and ‘I’m from Here: Poland of Many Nations’. The subject matter of these exhibitions became an inspiration for young people to discuss human rights and education for promoting tolerance. This book is the outcome of this project, particularly the follow-up conference. It is divided into three parts: ‘Challenges’, ‘Prospects’ and ‘Good Practices’. The first part is introductory and contains four articles by museum workers representing various authentic memorial sites, including two former death camps, one concentration camp and the area of a former ghetto. In writing about the specificity of these places, Bartosz Bartyzel and Piotr Tarnowski reflect on the challenges of education in the authen- tic Auschwitz and Stutthof Memorials respectively. Małgorzata Grzanka discusses the objectives, forms of activity and challenges of education at the Kulmhof Memorial Site. Finally, Joanna Podolska presents the issue of the impact of the former ghetto memorial site on the activity of the Marek Edelman Dialogue Centre in Łódź. The second part of the book presents various research perspectives on education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust, namely social, ethical and Polish studies. The collection of three texts on this subject begins with an article by Marek Kucia and Katarzyna Stec, in which the authors conduct a synthetic review of the state of research on education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust in Poland while presenting many interesting reflec- tions and conclusions for the future. In the second article, Alicja Bartuś explores the impact of education conducted at the Auschwitz Memorial / 8 / Edukacja o Auschwitz i Holokauście w autentycznych miejscach pamięci Site on shaping young people’s attitudes, especially on its potential to encourage them to be proactive and react to surrounding evil. Agniesz- ka Kasperek, on the other hand, shares the results of her research on the importance and role of authentic memorial sites in Polish education. The book ends with a chapter presenting examples of good practic- es, which shows various educational projects carried out at the authentic Auschwitz Memorial Site. The connecting elements of these projects