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Education programmes

Neighbours Who Disappeared

www.zmizeli-sousede.cz

 

"Education and a knowledge of history connected with humanity and an ordinary capacity for compassion will perhaps enable us to identify the seeds of old-new dangers and to confine the demons of hatred and evil before they overpower us again." (Václav Havel, opening speech at the Holocaust Phenomenon conference in the Rudolfinum Gallery of Prague Castle, 6 October 1999)

  The Education and Culture Centre of the Jewish Museum in Prague, in partnership with the civic association Zapomenutí/The Forgotten Ones and in collaboration with the Hidden Child organization, the Terezín Memorial and the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic, offers the possibility of becoming involved in the unique Neighbors Who Disappeared project. This project is a unique social phenomenon in the Czech Republic. In light of the strongly assimilated character of the Jewish population until 1939 and of the subsequent turning point, and in the shadow of the period 1945–1989 which saw the gradual destruction of monuments and of religious life, the youth of today can discover special connections by exploring the vanishing traces of the local Jewish settlement.

in Synagogue Loštice (Grammar school) with a Czech TV

 
 
 
Paradoxically, the establishment and continuation of the project in the Czech Republic is helped most by the Jewish community’s situation. The almost complete assimilation of Jews in the period before the Second World War in contrast to its subsequent fate – increasing restrictions culminating almost in liquidation after 1939.
 
 
 

How the local project is started (collecting photos, documents and listening to grandparents and their friends) - example - the beginning of a local project from Chotěboř Business Academy Presented in Prague in Jerusalem Synagogue in 2004

Authentic experiences are offered not only through encounters with monuments that have been abandoned, destroyed or have vanished, but mainly through meeting people who, in many cases, have never spoken before about the feelings they had at the time. These people can return to the school and the community a portion of its history and identity, as well as providing an honest, unembellished picture of themselves and of the places they lived.
This project does not deal solely with Jewish topics, the Holocaust, or the theme of peace.
It offers mainly the possibility of a shared identification with something that is important to us all (pupils and students, teachers, lecturers and contemporary witnesses) – for example, it shows how people behave in a totalitarian regime and in extreme crisis situations.
 
 

students presentation (High School Pilsen, Mikulášské square) in Terezin Memorial in occasion of an international seminar for teachers - November 2005

 
This project deals with cross-sectional topics (social sciences, Czech and English languages, art) which facilitate the acquisition of key skills – the work methodology and individual steps necessary for each activity, including errors, mistakes, impasses and failures before the final presentation is accomplished. Project participants gain self-awareness by working on their own and can reflect upon their own attitudes and identity. The project may also involve an interesting exchange of opinions on other than racial, religious or ethnic differences among people in the immediate vicinity.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In 2005 the Neighbors Who Disappeared project continued with its second phase, entitled Tribute to Child Holocaust Victims. This was officially announced on June 14, 2005 under the auspices of the Czech Senate and Prague City Hall. At first, the former classmates vanished only from the school benches, mostly in 1939 -1940. Many questions arise when investigating their future fate. Why were they marked out? Did they differ in any way or did they feel different? Could they have avoided being marked out? Why didn’t they escape while they had the chance? Could they have resisted the orders and bans? What happened to those who resisted? What would I do in such a situation? The first seven panels were put together as school memorial plaques to commemorate the lives of disappeared children who were then as old as the school pupils involved. Than they were digitized on an ongoing basis as part of the long-term project Neighbors Who Disappeared, alongside many other separate activities carried out by these groups like for ex. local exhibitions, special days and weeks of Jewish culture, Jewish cemetery maintenance, building of a local commemorative site, etc.
 
Overview of project development: The first collection of papers was published in October 2000. The authors of the contributions were invited to Prague Castle and praised by president Václav Havel. The first film about the project was broadcast by Czech Television in 2001.
An exhibition of student work was put together on the basis of the film and was gradually expanded to include twelve display panels from various regions in the Czech Republic (2002). Six versions (two large-scale, four comprising posters) have been arranged successively, depending on the respective interest and requirements (2003-2005). A representative selection of exhibits are on permanent display at the Loft Theatre in Magdeburg Barracks.. At present, the 20 display panels are on view at various venues in Czech and Slovak Republic, in English a traveling exhibition in USA (see www.zmizeli-sousede.cz), in 2007 in Italy and Germany. Along with the accompanying materials (videocassette, CD presentation, exhibition catalogue, methodological publication, A3-format posters, copies of eight of the twelve panels), however, the exhibition is only part of a long-term, not-for-profit educational project. Beyond the expectations of the authors, this project is providing motivation for other long-term projects dealing with, among other topics, the status of the individual in an extreme crisis situation, research into the period of the Second World War and reflections upon these events from the perspective of young people today. The Neighbors Who Disappeared project was supported by the Ministry of Education as part of its education for tolerance program. The project guarantors are Arnošt Lustig, writer and Dr. Zdeněk Zbořil (Institute of Political Science, Philosophy Faculty, Charles University). More information relating to this project is available on the website www.zmizeli-sousede.cz
 
 
 
As a beginning of an international cooperation we are offering the exhibition with 20 roll up system stands in English together with lot of other materials contact: martavan@gmail.com

 
 
 
 

Address:  Education and Culture Centre of the Jewish Museum Maiselova 15, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic Marie Zahradníková - project supervisor  marie.zahrjewishmuseum.cz Phone: +420 222 325 172, +420 224 819 352 Fax: +420 222 318 856

Marta Vančurová, coordinator, martavan@gmail.com, The Forgotten Ones association Jáchymova 3. 110 00 Prague 1 mobil: +420 603 147 074

Visit also www.zmizeli-sousede.cz - pages of the projects

Samples of the student's works: