Short Description of the Project’s results
The “Remember Holocaust – Building Bridges for a common future” project, did focus on the remembrance of the Jews Holocaust, aimed to foster the understanding of the past while strengthening the dialogue about the future of the European Union. Through its activities, the project raised awareness on remembrance, highlighted the Union values of solidarity, tolerance and peace, while also promoted awareness about civic participation and intercultural engagement. Taking the extermination of Jews as starting point, the project aimed at commemorating its victims and enhanced tolerance towards all kinds of diversity. All project partners originated from places with a common historical point where the local population has been victimized by the anti-Semitism wave and has suffered great loses during the WWII.
Focusing on the remembrance of the Jews Holocaust, the project fostered the understanding of the past and strengthened the dialogue for the Union’s future. It inspired young people, who constitute the backbone of the project, to be more active, civic aware and tolerant.
The consortium of the project consists of 6 partners from 4 countries which were victims of anti-Semitism with great loses. For example, in the city of Thessaloniki, 60.000 Jews during the WWII were deported by Nazis to concentration camps.
The project comprised of discussions with Holocaust survivors in the format of Human Library where, through story-telling, experiences were narrated and workshops/structured dialogue about stereotypes, racism and increase of totalitarianism. An interactive and digitalized Exhibition, online volunteering activities to schools by young Europeans and a policy paper for the outcomes were also produced and/or implemented.
The aim of these activities were to reflect on remembrance key challenges between societies, inspire youth towards diversity, inclusion, integration and European identity and equip them with tools and skills for critical thinking about stereotypes. The interaction between young people and civic society as well as the development of the Policy paper resulted in enhancing civic participation, while it did engaged the participants to a policy-making shaping.
The consortium of the project was made of youth organizations and municipalities located in Greece, Poland, Germany and Slovakia. One of their similarities is that all of them share a common historical point where the local population has been victimized by the anti-Semitism wave and suffered great loses during the WWII.
Description of the Activities Implemented
5 Project Activities (and 1 extra) took place in the framework of the project implementation.
Extra Activity – Kick Off
Participation: the project enabled the participation of 21 European Citizens, derived from Greece (9), Germany (4), Slovakia (3), Latvia (1), Poland (2) and Ukraine (2).
Place/ Dates: the activity took place digitally on 2nd of October 2020.
Short description:
The formal implementation of the project initiated with an online Kick-Off Meeting which took place under the coordination of the lead partner Institute of Research & Training on European Affairs. On the 2nd of October, through the ZOOM platform, the partners organized a Kick- Off meeting that was attended by representatives of the partner organisations, young people and students, representatives from the Jewish community and the civil society.
During the event, the lead partner presented the project in details, the idea behind the project and its forthcoming activities. Moreover, each participant presented to the audience their role to the project and how they will enable their local society to get engaged to the project. The last part of meeting concerned an interactive discussion between the partnering organisations and the attendants regarding the involvement of any interested body to the project. A fruitful dialogue between all parts took place about details on the content of the activities setting the frame for the project implementation.
More information regarding the activity can be found below:
http://rememberholocaust.eu/2020/10/05/kick-off-online-meeting-2/
Methodology:
The idea behind this Kick- Off meeting was to enable all interested bodies and stakeholders to learn more about the project and their potential contribution and participation to the project activities. Apart from that, the Kick off meeting played the role of a “to- know-us-better” mechanism during which the attendants met, even digitally, with the people behind the project and the people behind the organisations that participate to the project. The first part of the activity included a thorough presentation of the project, its aims and objectives and its included activities. After the end of the project presentation, a representative of each partner took the floor and shared with the attendants the vision of their organisation as well as their contribution to the project. The last part of the event concerned a dialogue between the consortium and the people that were attending the meeting about how they can be involved in the forthcoming activities and how they can motivate their friends and local community to be part of this project.
Evaluation:
The Kick- Off meeting was decided to be implemented by the consortium as a starting point of the project so that any interested people or potential stakeholder can learn more about the project. Our initial attention was to organize a live kick-off meeting where journalists on the field would have been invited and representatives of the Jewish community at national level would have made their inputs. However, due to the occasion of the pandemic, it was decided to organize it digitally. The activity has been evaluated as a successful one since the attendants showed great interest about the project and posed a series of questions regarding the process of the activities. The representative of the Jewish community that was present at the event expressed their support to our initiative reinforcing the connection between the project and the Jewish element.
On the outset of the activity, all representatives of the consortium participated to an unofficial e-meeting for reflection reasons during which all parts expressed their satisfaction for the attendance and contribution to the project.
Certificates of attendance as well as evaluation forms were distributed to the attendants by the lead partner. The overall evaluation was welcoming with a positive attitude towards future collaborations on the project.
Dissemination activities
An email prior to the organisation of the activity had been sent by the coordinator to Jewish organisations and groups in Greece by the lead organisation. Also, a preparatory partners’ e-meeting took place in order to fix details on the agenda and timetable as well as responsibilities of each partner, including procedures of promotion of the event.
On behalf of the lead partner, press releases, posts on Facebook page of the project, posts on the websites have been released disseminating the event. Call for participation and an application form have also been created and disseminated. Apart from the project’s website, the leader promoted the event through the organisation’s communication tools. Post-event release has also been distributed. Audiovisual materials supported the activity’s promotion. On the other hand, all project partners promoted the event (including the call and application form) through their communication tools such as organisations’ website, Facebook and Instagram pages.
URLs of posts about the activity at national level (including social media, websites, newsletters, press releases etc )
http://rememberholocaust.eu/2020/10/05/kick-off-online-meeting-2/
http://rememberholocaust.eu/2020/09/15/kick-off-online-meeting/
http://www.irtea.gr/?p=4430&lang=el
https://www.facebook.com/JubukGermany/posts/1210382792674649
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGHjYTrlqNM/
Activity 1 (Interactive Workshop “Remember the past-React for the future”)
Participation: the project enabled the participation of 76 European Citizens, derived from the 9 different EU countries and 2 others, Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Greece, Latvia, Italy, Czech Republic, Portugal, Slovenia as well as Russia and India.
(32 from Germany, 14 from Greece, 9 from Poland, 2 from Russia, 9 from Slovakia, 3 from Italy, 1 from Latvia, 1 from Czech Republic, 1 from Portugal, 1 from Slovenia, 1 from India)
Place/ Dates: 20/10/2020 (online, based in Germany)
Short description:
On the 20th of October, the online workshop “Remember the past – React for the future” took place as a part of our project “Remember Holocaust – Building Bridges for a common future” under the coordination of the partner organisation JuBUk. Around 80 participants joined this workshop creating a diverse group of students, youth workers, representatives of youth organisations and civil society, volunteers, representatives of the Jewish community, cultural and peace workers etc. who interacted with each other, discussed upon common interest issues of propaganda, extremism, inclusion and discrimination through a set of non-formal activities coordinated by an experienced youth trainer who is expert on the abovementioned issues.
The workshop consisted of two parts of 115 minutes each, divided by a 15-minute break after the first half.
The main aim of the workshop was to draw participants’ attention to the paradigm of Holocaust, how the Nazi-fascist crimes were rooted in that ideology, and how its debris still affects people towards stereotypes, prejudices and xenophobia. During the workshop, the participants explored forms of racist propaganda and its consequences, as in the case of the rise of far-right regimes. The participants also reflected on the practices that empower the values of dignity, freedom, diversity and inclusion: the common values of the Union’s member states as stated in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The participants, during the workshop, shared their experiences with the topic Holocaust and if and when they had visited the remembrance sites. Together the team analyzed caricatures in an interesting and deep discussion and also exchanged perspectives on current politics and the political situation in the world.
Regarding the expectations and outcomes of the participation to this workshop, the activity flow achieved to enable the participants to get actively engaged to a dialogue about how the debris of Holocaust still affect people and reflect on issues of stereotypes, xenophobia, the rise of far-right regimes and how they have been faced from the beginning of WWII since now. Based on the participants personal comments, the workshop let them shared their views and personal experiences on how EU values of freedom, diversity, inclusion have turned societies into tolerant and inclusive communities and how remembrance and historic moments can work as an open-minding force for peace and well-being.
More information regarding the activity can be found below:
http://rememberholocaust.eu/interactive-workshop/
Methodology:
During the early preparation of the project activities, the lead partner had created a methodology paper for the flow of the workshop so that the coordinating organisation has a basis to work with the facilitator/ trainer. Initially, the methodology had been developed so that the workshop would have take place with physical attendance. However, as the pandemic led us to turn the project activities into digital ones, another -totally successful- methodology was applied.
Therefore, based on the experience of the trainer, the online (via ZOOM platform) workshop was divided into two sessions.
The first session started with a general introduction of the project, and icebreaking questions of “did you visit any memory site connected with Holocaust and Nazi crimes? When and in which form?” was replied by the attendants. The participants took the opportunity to mention their personal connection with the topic revealing that the majority has such experience as part of their school curricula/ trip. Diverse replies to questions such as “Why do we remember those tragic events?” underlined the wide range of causes for the European remembrance of the Holocaust; from memory as a duty towards those who lost their lives, to the memory work perceived as a tool to prevent similar horrors to happen again. Issues of institutional efforts other initiatives were discussed aimed at realizing that “never again” European countries promised themselves after the end of second WWII to fight right-wing extremism, both in the form of political parties and the society itself.
The workshop on propaganda consisted of an analysis of different propaganda materials from the years ‘35-’44, most of which caricatures produced in Nazi Germany and aimed at German people. The participating group also discussed the issue of antisemitic propaganda that was created in the same time-span in fascist Italy and USA. The latter was a useful reminder that democratic states are not immune to racism and introduced the topic “conspiracy theory”, useful as a bridge to the next session.
During the second session that was dedicated to the analysis of the same mechanisms in nowadays media, the participants discussed and exchanged their views on deconstructing memes and comic strips. The participants identified several forms of discrimination such as xenophobia, antisemitism and discrimination based on gender. They often had different ideas, and the reflection highlighted how difficult it is to recognize racism when it is not openly political propaganda, such as a party’s manifesto or a speech by a politician. The use of irony, especially in memes, was evaluated as particularly dangerous since it can make it harder for the audience to actively decode racist implications.
The conclusions focused on what can be done to reduce discriminatory behaviors, as a way to move towards a more inclusive society based on respect for human rights. Many participants agreed on the importance of self-vigilance, because the first step is to be aware of your own stereotypes and prejudices. Some of them also mentioned the need of a careful choice on which content we decide to share on our media and communication, in order to avoid the spread of unintended racist ideas.
Evaluation:
Based on both the coordinator’s and the trainer’s evaluation, the activity is evaluated as a succesful one since the participating group was a mixed group of professionals on the field, students, local society and Jewish community who interacted with each other through a fruiful dialogue. A critical role on the achievement of the activity goals played the professionalism of the facilitator who is expert on the field and has also a great experience on non-formal education methodology. The active engagement of the participants into a constant conversation with numerous changes on topics of discussion kept the interest of the participants and led them to take initiatives and expose their personal views and experience on the workshop subjects.
Regarding the expectations and outcomes of the activities, the reasons for attending the workshop met the expected outcomes. Among the outcomes of the activity, the participants declared a numerous set of reasons for attending the workshop such as self and knowledge improvement, interest in history/remembrance and EU values of human rights, tolerance and diversity. Moreover, their personal and family background, the topic’s relevance with studies or professional agenda as well as the interaction and the exchange of views about racism and xenophobia between the group were also among their expectations that were met by the workshop.
From the organiser’s point of view, the goals set were achieved. The attention of young people from all over the world were drawed to the paradigm of the Holocaust. The participants were involved in discussions about what we can learn from the past and how we can find ideology from the past in the present in the same or slightly different form. The attendants talked about different forms of racist propaganda, about how to identify it in the picture or meme in the social media. Together they talked about the effect of picture/mem/poster through interactive online activities and analyzed values like dignity, freedom, diversity and integration. The trainer did manage to create a very good working atmosphere and captivated the interest of the participants.
Dissemination activities:
Together the lead partner, the coordinating organisation of this activity and the rest members of the consortium worked for the promotion of this activity. As the very first official event of the project, an (unofficial) partners e-meeting took place joined by a representative of each partner during which managing details for the dissemination activities was part of the agenda. A press release/ call for application was created and posted on various communication channels such as the website and social media account of the project. Posts have been uploaded in all communication channels of all partner organisations as well. Members of partner organisations got also noticed about the workshop through emails. Post-event release and reflection articles have also been posted on websites and social media accompanied by audiovisual materials supporting the activity’s exploitation of results. Certificates of attendance were provided to the participants. All dissemination guidelines such as proper use of logos etc. were followed by all participants, promotion of the event and its supporting materials as stated in the Partnership Agreement had been followed by the consortium.
URLs of posts about the activity at national level (including social media, websites, newsletters, press releases etc )
http://rememberholocaust.eu/interactive-workshop/
http://www.irtea.gr/?p=4392&lang=el
http://www.irtea.gr/?p=4383&lang=el
https://www.facebook.com/JubukGermany/posts/1218682975177964
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGaHZScFRAm/
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=214641873348503&id=105688940910464
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=211537810325576&id=105688940910464
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=211366310342726&id=105688940910464
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=210617510417606&id=105688940910464
Activity 2 (Structured Dialogue)
Participation: the project enabled the participation of 90 European Citizens derived from Slovakia, Greece, Poland, Slovenia, Turkey, Italy, Moldova and other several non-EU countries. (61 from Slovakia, 10 from Greece, 1 from Moldova, 2 from Slovenia, 1 from Poland, 1 from Italy, 3 from Turkey, 1 from Korea, 2 from Zimbabwe, 1 from Ukraine, 1 from Russia, 1 from Tunisia)
Place/ Dates: 4/12/2020 (online, Slovakia)
Short description:
On the 4th of December, the second project activity of a Structured Dialogue took place, coordinated by the Slovak project partner Youth for Equality. Around 90 people, including students, teachers, young people, representatives of organisations and the civil society as well as youth workers, academics and policy makers from 12 different countries attended actively the event which lasted around 3 hours and was carried out via the ZOOM platform. After the introduction to the activity and the overall project by the hosting organisation, Mrs. Mgr. Eva Baumann, an internal doctoral student of the Comenius University (expert in the field of didactics of history), presented the history about the Holocaust paradigm and analyzed how European countries and their citizens like Italy or Slovakia reacted to the Holocaust and how local societies had treated the Jewish community they lived with. The second guest of the activity was Mr. Ing. Jozef Cipin, a Holocaust survivor, who narrated and shared with the participants his story of how he got to the camp, how he perceived it later on, and how it passed over time. The participants had the chance to pose questions to Mr. Ing. Jozef Cipin about his experience and general discussions about freedom also were made. The Structured Dialogue also included a presentation about the current situation of perception of the Holocaust, hate speech in society and discrimination by Mr. Mgr. Andrej Stančík, a member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic for the OĽANO movement and chairman of the Civic Democrat Youth. During his inputs, Mr. Stančík raised questions to the audience such as citizens’ tendency to forget the past, the arise of extremism within some communities and the role of policy- makers towards eliminating hate speech occurrences. Mrs. Kristína Grečková from the Milan Šimečka Foundation took also the floor and presented the current situation in Slovakia towards inclusion and discrimination. During the event, the participants joined a series of discussions with the official guests and had the opportunity to express their views, get answers to their questions and navigate to examples of active citizenship and tolerance. The whole event was moderated by a professional moderator and coordinated by the staff of Youth for Equality.
More information regarding the activity can be found below:
http://rememberholocaust.eu/structured-dialogue-activity/
Methodology:
After finalizing the guest list of the officials who had accepted the invitation to the activity, the coordinating organisation developed and shared with the consortium a detailed timeline accompanied with the context of the dialogue that would be followed during the activity. For easing the procedures of the Structured Dialogue and show professionalism to both our official guests and the attendants, the coordinator had developed a series of questions as a basis for the flow of the debate. Each one of the official guests who took the floor had exceptionally prepared their speech/presentation that kept the interest of the attendants. However, we regard as the cornerstone of the activity, the testimonial of the Holocaust survivor since he shared his personal experience which created a very sensitive atmosphere to the audience. Content- wise, as a complete Structured Dialogue activity, it kept its structure and context having policy-makers, representatives of the civil society and participants interested to the subject proving an efficient and productive dialogue to the attendants.
On the other hand, on the practical approach of the activity, detailed framework, thorough preparation, detailed information, evaluation and reflection were made on time, accurately and with professionalism by all parts.
Evaluation:
Overall, the activity is regarded as a successful one since we achieved an exceptional result in terms of the quality of the guests who accepted the invitation to join the Structured Dialogue as well as the diversity and the quantity of the people who attended the activity. The thorough preparation on behalf of the coordinating organisation led to such remarkable results and enable the efficiency and professionalism of implementing the activity without any obstacles or mismanagement to come out during the activity. Moreover, a great attempt has been made regarding both the promotion of the event and the exploitation of its outcomes and all partner organisations joined the attempt of promoting the activity.
In terms of evaluating the outcomes, it is worth-mentioned that the activity did manage to meet the expectations of the attendants that were to enrich their knowledge about the Holocaust, historic turnovers and reflect on how our past can make us more willing to achieve a better, more tolerant community by being more aware and more active as citizens. Moreover, since issues of how different communities react towards discrimination and racism were discussed by the audience, intercultural understanding and EU values of respect to human rights and dignity were also highlighted.
Dissemination activities:
A thorough preparation has been executed by the coordinating organisation of the activity who worked together with the lead organisation and the rest members of the project consortium. In terms of promoting the activity, the same visual identity and templates were used so as to boost the branding of the project. A call for applications together with press releases were given to all partner organisations so as to promote the activity through their communication channels. Posts to the project website and social media were uploaded as well as to each partner organisations’ promoting channels. Moreover, a Facebook event was created and promoted for maximizing the visibility and the attendance of the event. Official invitations to the guests and the participating schools were sent by the coordinating organisation. Post event press releases and FB posts were also developed and promoted by all members of the consortium. Certificates of attendance were provided to the participants. Moreover, the coordinating organisation proceeded to the recording of the activity and the presentations of the speakers are also available to the public. All dissemination guidelines such as proper use of logos etc. were followed by all participants, promotion of the event and its supporting materials as stated in the Partnership Agreement had been followed by the consortium.
URLs of posts about the activity at national level (including social media, websites, newsletters, press releases etc )
http://rememberholocaust.eu/structured-dialogue-activity/
http://rememberholocaust.eu/2020/12/07/online-structured-dialogue-activity-4-12-2020/
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=237638307715526&id=105688940910464
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=214641873348503&id=105688940910464
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=214641873348503&id=105688940910464
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=214641873348503&id=105688940910464
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=214641873348503&id=105688940910464
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=214641873348503&id=105688940910464
https://www.facebook.com/youthforequalityslovakia/posts/3627054327360211
https://www.facebook.com/events/373096694018495/?ti=ls
http://www.irtea.gr/?p=4422&lang=el
Activity 3 (Human Library)
Participation: the project enabled the participation of 164 European Citizens who derived from Slovakia, Greece, Poland, Slovenia, Turkey, Italy, Moldova and other several non-EU countries.
Place/ Dates: 12/02/2021 (online, Greece)
Short description:
The Digital Human Library activity was organized by the lead partner, I.R.T.E.A., aiming to give the floor to the “Human Books” to share with the participants their experiences as members of Jewish communities in various European countries. Also, listen to testimonies and stories from the events of the Holocaust, and to have a constructive dialogue on issues of racism, stereotypes and social exclusion. The activity gathered young Europeans, civil society representatives, local authorities etc.
During the opening of the event, Mr. Moses Elisaf, Mayor of Ioannina Municipality, shared stories about the Holocaust and the importance of commemoration of such historical events for a more tolerant and non-discriminatory future. Among the “Human Books” of the activity was Mr. Jozef who, as a Holocaust survivor, shared with the participants moments from his life before, during and after his transfer to the concentration camp and his liberation from the Nazis. Also, Mr. Jerome, who shared with the participants his experience as a member of the Jewish community in various European countries and the treatment he received throughout the years as an expat.
At this activity, 164 people took part from 13 countries. [(54) Slovakia, (57) Greece, (18) Germany, (2) Slovenia, (8) Poland, (8) USA, (1) Turkey, (2) Israel, (2) Great Britain, (2) Ukraine, (1) Russia, (1) Chez Republic, (1) Spain, (1) France.]
More information regarding the activity can be found below:
http://rememberholocaust.eu/human-library/
Methodology:
After finalizing the speakers list of the “Human Books” who had accepted the invitation to the activity, the coordinating organisation developed and shared with the consortium a detailed timeline accompanied with the context of the program that would be followed during the activity. The books were 4 different speakers that their expertise and experience covered a wide spectrum related to the topic of the Holocaust. Those included: a Holocaust survivor, a distinct member of the Jewish community, an academic on Jewish studies and artist specialized on the topic of the Roma persecution during those dark times. The “Human Books” were separated in 4 virtual zoom rooms and took turns in sharing their views, stories and experience with the rotating participants. Each one of the “Human Books” who took the floor had exceptionally prepared their speech/presentation that kept the interest of the attendants. However, we regard as the cornerstone of the activity, the testimonial of the Holocaust survivor since he shared his personal experience which created a very sensitive atmosphere to the audience. Content- wise, as a complete interactive activity, it kept its structure and context having young people, representatives of the civil society, other interested parties, stakeholders and participants interested to the subject proving an efficient and productive dialogue to the attendants.
On the other hand, on the practical approach of the activity, detailed framework, thorough preparation, detailed information, evaluation and reflection were made on time, accurately and with professionalism by all parts.
Evaluation:
Overall, the activity is regarded as a successful one since we achieved an exceptional result in terms of the quality of the guests who accepted the invitation to join the Human Library as well as the diversity and the quantity of the people who attended the activity. The thorough preparation on behalf of the coordinating organisation led to such remarkable results and enable the efficiency and professionalism of implementing the activity without any obstacles or mismanagement to come out during the activity. Moreover, a great attempt has been made regarding both the promotion of the event and the exploitation of its outcomes and all partner organisations joined the attempt of promoting the activity.
In terms of evaluating the outcomes, it is worth mentioning that the activity did manage to meet the expectations of the attendants that were to enrich their knowledge about the Holocaust, historic turnovers and reflect on how our past can make us more willing to achieve a better, more tolerant community by being more aware and more active as citizens. Moreover, since issues of how different communities react towards discrimination and racism were discussed by the audience, intercultural understanding and EU values of respect to human rights and dignity were also highlighted.
Dissemination activities:
A thorough preparation has been executed by the coordinating organisation of the activity who worked together with the lead organisation and the rest members of the project consortium. In terms of promoting the activity, the same visual identity and templates were used so as to boost the branding of the project. A call for applications together with press releases were given to all partner organisations so as to promote the activity through their communication channels. Posts to the project website and social media were uploaded as well as to each partner organisations’ promoting channels. Moreover, a Facebook event was created and promoted for maximizing the visibility and the attendance of the event. Official invitations to the guests and the participating schools were sent by the coordinating organisation. Post event press releases and FB posts were also developed and promoted by all members of the consortium Moreover, the coordinating organisation proceeded to the development of a Booklet reflecting the outputs of the activity, the presentations of the speakers and some other useful information that is also available to the public via the project’ website. All dissemination guidelines such as proper use of logos etc. were followed by all participants, promotion of the event and its supporting materials as stated in the Partnership Agreement had been followed by the consortium.
URLs of posts about the activity at national level (including social media, websites, newsletters, press releases etc )
http://rememberholocaust.eu/human-library/
https://www.facebook.com/youthforequalityslovakia/photos/a.1025092017556468/3805732012825774/
https://www.facebook.com/I.R.T.E.Agr/photos/a.444984085519821/4055862937765233/
https://www.facebook.com/JubukGermany/photos/a.155310934848512/1303933043319623/
http://www.irtea.gr/?p=4508&lang=el
http://www.irtea.gr/?p=4534&lang=el
https://www.facebook.com/105688940910464/videos/309643793825837
https://www.facebook.com/I.R.T.E.Agr/photos/a.444984085519821/4027563540595173/
https://www.facebook.com/events/417075996027554/?ref=newsfeed
https://www.facebook.com/105688940910464/photos/a.141786387300719/261938121952211/
Activity 4 (Virtual Exhibition on the Holocaust)
Participation: the project enabled the participation of more than 150 European Citizens derived from many European as well as several other non-EU countries.
Place/ Dates: 20/03/2020- 20/04/2021 (online, Greece)
Short description:
The Virtual Exhibition aims to portray milestones of the extermination of the Jews, their everyday life in times of the war while providing a clear, easy understanding of facts that led to the genocide of the Jews. During your tour, you will be navigated to historic turning points, to everyday life testimonies of the people who lived back in those times while you will get to know interesting stories of flagship personalities that their names got interrelated with the Holocaust times. The Exhibition is structured into 4 rooms with a specific topic. Each exhibit shares a story or an explanation of worth-mentioning historic point accompanied by videos or audios that you can watch or listen to.
The Digital Exhibition concerned an open-source material, available online at the project’ website for the duration of the project’ lifecycle but also 5 years after the end of it. It concerns the digital representation of a Museum with exhibits structured in 4 main rooms, where the attendee can go thought and navigate through main historical facts. Each exhibit shares a story or an explanation of worth-mentioning historic point accompanied by videos or audios that you can watch or listen to.
It mainly aimed and succeeded to portray milestones of the extermination of the Jews, their everyday life in times of the war while providing a clear, easy understanding of facts that led to the genocide of the Jews. During the virtual tour through the exhibits, the attendee is navigated to historic turning points, to everyday life testimonies of the people who lived back in those times while he/she gets to know interesting stories of flagship personalities that their names got interrelated with the Holocaust times. The exhibition is available at the project’ website rememberholocaust.eu and has attracted more than 150 visitors from 13 countries around the globe.
More information regarding the activity can be found below:
http://rememberholocaust.eu/digitalized-exhibition-of-holocaust-history-and-memories/
Methodology:
The methodology and work methods that were followed in order to design and develop the virtual digital exhibition involved the following steps:
- Extensive research and analysis of sources and information about all the historic facts that eventually led to the Holocaust, such as for example the rise of Hitler to power. The working team of I.R.T.E.A. on the project, dedicated adequate time in order to research articles, online sources and bibliography on the topic, proceeded in categorizing theismaterial together with respective and relevant audiovisual material (photographs, videos, audio files).
- The second step included categorization and division of the above mentioned material in to 4 distinct categories-virtual rooms that would later constitute the core of the exhibition. This categorization took place in order to give the viewer-visitor a clear, easy to comprehend, division of key historic events into 4 eras. Obviously, the topic of the Holocaust is extensive and is comprised of many facts and events, but for the purpose of keeping the exhibition relatively short, and keeping always in mind that the target group (visitors) would mainly be young people, many of those underage, there was a selection made in order to present certain historical highlights.
- The next step involved the uploading of all the material, with the appropriate software, on the virtual platform of artsteps.com, making all the necessary aesthetic adjustments and making sure of the ease of access and ease of navigation of the produced final outcome.
- Finally, there was a registration form created, who was advertised publically and was also sent to all the project partners in order to circulate it within their beneficiaries and networks. Upon completion of the registration, participants received a link which gave access to the virtual exhibition.
Evaluation:
Overall, the activity is regarded as extremely successful by taking into account and analyzing the engagement and positive reviews from people who “visited” it from all over Europe. The exhibition has takes its visitors on a virtual tour of key historic events that led to the Holocaust. Through a collection of selected photos, videos and audio exhibits, it attempts to present a unique audiovisual experience and shed some light in this dark era. The feedback it received from visitors exceeded expectations as participants highly appreciated its innovative design, ease of navigation, variety and quality of exhibits and felt that the sensitive topic of the Jews Holocaust was presented accurately, with an easy to comprehend way, even for younger underage people, with the outmost respect to historic facts and figures. Younger, tech savvy, participants who are more familiar with digital tools, were especially keen on it as they felt they could identify with the interactive format of the virtual exhibition and could get, from the comfort of their home, a holistic view and easy to digest information on such a “heavy” topic.
Dissemination activities:
A thorough preparation has been executed by the coordinating organisation of the activity who worked together with the lead organisation and the rest members of the project consortium. In terms of promoting the activity, the same visual identity and templates were used so as to boost the branding of the project. Moreover, the coordinating organisation proceeded to the recording of the exhibition which will remain publically uploaded and available for free for the next 2 years. The exhibition will remain uploaded and active in 2 formats. Both as a proper digital museum where people would still be able to join and virtually walk through, but also as a recorded uploaded video where people will be able to access and watch without interacting. All dissemination guidelines such as proper use of logos etc. were followed by all participants, promotion of the event and its supporting materials as stated in the Partnership Agreement had been followed by the consortium.
URLs of posts about the activity at national level (including social media, websites, newsletters, press releases etc )
http://rememberholocaust.eu/digitalized-exhibition-of-holocaust-history-and-memories/
http://rememberholocaust.eu/2021/03/21/digitalized-exhibition-of-holocaust-history-and-memories/
http://www.irtea.gr/?p=4571&lang=el
https://www.facebook.com/105688940910464/videos/556548432034658
https://www.facebook.com/105688940910464/photos/a.141786383967386/329560825189940/
https://www.facebook.com/105688940910464/videos/4172765476113522
https://www.facebook.com/105688940910464/videos/815617399366805
https://www.facebook.com/105688940910464/videos/4151616311556944
Activity 5 (Online Volunteer Activity)
Participation: the project enabled the participation of more than 211 Greek High School students from 7 different schools, as well as European Solidarity Corps volunteers derived from Slovakia, Greece, Poland, and Germany.
Place/ Dates: 3/5/2021 – 16/5/2021 (online, Greece)
Short description:
The Virtual Voluntary Activity gathered 12 volunteers form the 4 partnering countries to the project, who, after receiving a specialized training by the Trainers Team and Youth Workers of the lead partner, I.R.T.E.A. who was responsible for the organization of the event, interacted with almost 210 pupils of 7 High Schools of Greece, with innovative and youth-friendly non-formal activities.
The VVA focused on the paradigm of Holocaust as a milestone for highlighting the importance of tolerance, acceptance, diversity and unity for a peaceful coexistence in the EU and beyond. This volunteering activity concerned a set of workshops that were implemented virtually in High Schools in Greece during which, the volunteers, based on the outcomes of other project activities, interacted with the students and through non-formal approach discussed upon issues of equity, diversity, and tolerance.
The schools that took part in the activity were:
- Experimental Lyceum of the University of Crete, Rethymno
- 1st Lyceum of Thessaloniki
- 12th Lyceum of Thessaloniki
- Lyceum of Kallimasia, Chios
- 1st Protypo Lyceum of Athens, “Gennadios”
- Greek-French school Kalamari
- Arsakeio of Thessaloniki
More information regarding the activity can be found below:
http://rememberholocaust.eu/online-voluntary-activity-to-high-schools-in-greece-03-16-may-2021/
Methodology:
The volunteers were thoroughly trained about what the project had achieved so far, were given more relevant information and had the space to organize the context of their workshops according to their profile. The coordinating organisation, Institute of Research & Training on European Affairs, provided them with the needed support so as to organize the context and the framework of the workshops and facilitated any other procedure so that the volunteers felt comfortable to productively express themselves on issues of respect to diversity, tolerance among communities, respect to human rights and vision of a united EU.
The volunteers had training sessions with youth workers of I.R.T.E.A. in order to get introduced to the project and get guidelines on how to prepare an online activity. They were additionally provided with an extensive guide on using digital tools and non-formal education methods. Special attention was given to the fact that they were dealing with a highly sensitive topic as well as with a special target group namely underage high school students.
The interactive trainings and workshops were focused on:
- The remembrance of the Jews Holocaust based on globally accepted historical evidence
- The fostering and the understanding of the past while strengthening the dialogue about the future of the European Union, having this paradigm of discrimination as the main point
- Raising awareness on remembrance, highlighting the Union’ values of solidarity, tolerance and peace but also the Fundamental Chapter of Human Rights as a main reference point
- Promoting awareness about civic participation and intercultural understanding
Through the usage of digital tools the volunteers embarked on a series of interactive workshops that engaged 210 students and teachers from 7 schools.
Evaluation:
Overall, the activity is regarded as a successful one since we achieved an exceptional result in terms of numbers of the schools, teachers and pupils who accepted the invitation to join the activity. The thorough preparation on behalf of the coordinating organisation led to such remarkable results and enable the efficiency and professionalism of implementing the activity without any obstacles or mismanagement to come out during the activity. The volunteers who delivered the activities deserve a special mention since they demonstrated professionalism, high engagement, eagerness and enthusiasm and without them this quality outcome would not have been possible. Moreover, a great attempt has been made regarding both the promotion of the event and the exploitation of its outcomes and all partner organisations joined the attempt of promoting the activity.
As a result of this final activity, but in accordance to all previous ones under the framework of the project there was a Policy Paper produced taking into account all the feedback of the young participants, their insights, proposals and recommendations. the participants were skeptical about what to do, in order to avoid such events taking place in the future, how to combat discrimination, and how to build tolerant and inclusive societies.
Therefore, the participants of the project:
- Suggest the introduction of an annual informative session about the Holocaust in every EU member state. This session should take place on the International Holocaust Remembrance day, in every school across the EU for remembrance and raising awareness over the facts of Holocaust. This is suggested, in order for students to have better insight and knowledge about the Holocaust, remember the history and shape a non-violent and tolerant future.
- Recommend the better monitoring of media and social media when sharing historical facts aiming to combat misinformation, and exercise control to people who spread hate speech and misinformation that leads to the reinforcement of stereotypes.
- Suggest the creation of local and EU bodies/councils consisted of mixed backgrounds, with the sole purpose of assisting in the demolition of stereotypes, the protection of people who are threatened because of their ethnicity, religion, and lifestyle. Adding to that, the mixed bodies/councils will have a voice concerning the social integration of groups facing the previous mentioned issues.
- Propose the organization of local, national and European events that will promote intercultural dialogue among groups susceptible to stereotyping and local citizens, so that the latter would be aware of their status and able to directly communicate with them, countering in this way the discrimination stereotypes and xenophobia acts, as well as facilitating the integration procedure.
- Endorse the training of teachers, educational and specialized staff by European services in cooperation with NGOs and social workers so that they raise awareness and focus the attention on elimination of stereotypes and marginalization.
Dissemination activities:
A thorough preparation has been executed by the coordinating organisation of the activity who worked together with the lead organisation and the rest members of the project consortium. In terms of promoting the activity, the same visual identity and templates were used so as to boost the branding of the project. A call for applications together with press releases were sent to a number of Greek High Schools in order to inform them about the activity and help them to express their interest in participating. Posts to the project website and social media were uploaded as well as to each partner organizations’ promoting channels. Moreover, a Facebook post was created and promoted for maximizing the visibility and the attendance of the event. Official invitations to the participating schools were sent by the coordinating organisation. Post event press releases and FB posts were also developed and promoted by all members of the consortium. Certificates of attendance were provided to the participants, both the volunteers and the high school pupils. Moreover, the coordinating organisation proceeded to the recording of the activities and the presentations of the speakers are also available to the public. All dissemination guidelines such as proper use of logos etc. were followed by all participants, promotion of the event and its supporting materials as stated in the Partnership Agreement had been followed by the consortium.
URLs of posts about the activity at national level (including social media, websites, newsletters, press releases etc )
http://rememberholocaust.eu/online-voluntary-activity-to-high-schools-in-greece-03-16-may-2021/
http://www.irtea.gr/?p=4605&lang=el
https://www.facebook.com/105688940910464/photos/a.141786387300719/318444479634908/