Annual Training for Educators and Memory Workers “Learning from the past—acting for the future”
The annual seminar for educators and memory workers, “Learning from the Past—Acting for the Future, ” was held from August 25-29 in Palić near Subotica. This training, now in its fourth year, is organized by Terraforming and the Olga Lengel Institute TOLI from New York in various cities in Serbia. After being held in Novi Sad and Šabac in previous years, the program was hosted in Subotica this year. The participants included teachers, librarians, archivists, museum workers, and other stakeholders in remembrance culture. There were a total of 30 seminar participants from all parts of Serbia, as well as from North Macedonia.
Lecturers from Great Britain and Israel
The international lecturers were well-known experts: Martin Winstone from the UK, Senior Historical Advisor at the Holocaust Educational Trust and the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, Chair of the Education Working Group of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance IHRA, as well as Sandra Rosenfeld from Israel, a Holocaust educator with more than thirteen years of experience at the E-Learning Department at the Yad Vashem International School for Holocaust Studies where she worked until recently, and as a designer of various interactive online courses such as the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) course.
Eminent experts from Serbia
Among the lecturers were Serbian experts: Dr. Milan Koljanin Memorial Center “Staro sajmište”, Dr. Milovan Pisarri Shoah Lab – Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory in Belgrade, Miško Stanišić Terraforming, Nevena Bajalica Terraforming, Aleksandar Todosijevic Association for Social History Euroclio, Borka Marinković Jewish Community Belgrade, Ana Radaković Institute for Contemporary History and Oana Bajka from Timisoar, the TOLI.
Visit to the Jewish Community of Subotica
As part of the program, we organized a visit to the Jewish Community of Subotica. Participants had the opportunity to hear a presentation by Robert Sabadoš, the president of the Jewish Community of Subotica, and engage with the second-generation Holocaust survivors. We visited the famous Subotica synagogue with Branka Banjanin, an expert guide who provided insights into Jewish Subotica.
From the Holocaust to contemporary anti-Semitism, from the suffering of the Roma to the distortion of history
During the four intensive days, we explored the following topics through lectures and workshops:
- Jewish communities in Europe and the Holocaust,
- The Holocaust in Europe,
- The Holocaust in Serbia,
- Education against antisemitism,
- Persecution of the Roma during the Holocaust and antigypsyism,
- Learning about the Holocaust and the genocide of the Roma according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) recommendations,
- Distortion, manipulation, and abuse of history,
- Graphic Novels in Learning about the Holocaust – the concept of educational graphic novels “Ester”
- Approaches and methodologies of teaching and learning about the Holocaust.
Participants had the opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas about contemporary challenges in memorialization and education and elaborate on their ideas for future work on teaching and learning about the Holocaust.
A particularly interesting part of the seminar was dedicated to analyzing current examples of distortion and manipulation of history and contemporary antisemitism in Europe and in Serbia. Much attention was paid to the persecution and genocide of the Roma, as well as antigypsyism in the past and today.
Reception for the opening of the seminar
Distinguished guests and officials delivered speeches during the reception that marked the seminar’s opening on Sunday, August 24. We want to express our gratitude to all attendees, and especially the speakers.
A big thank you to Robert Sabados, who addressed the guests on behalf of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Serbia and the Jewish Community of Subotica.
We thank the City of Subotica, particularly Assistant Mayor Srdjan Samardzic, for the warm welcome.
Special thanks to the Provincial Ombudsperson, Dr. Dragana Ćorić, and Pavle Vamošer, who addressed the audience on behalf of the Jewish Community of Novi Sad and the International Dachau Committee (CID).
Many thanks to Pawel Voronin, Head of the Cultural Department of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Belgrade. In his speech, he emphasized the importance of countering contemporary antisemitism.
Miško Stanišić, director of Terraforming, presented the new online resource “ABC on Antisemitism,” aimed at media professionals, educators, and other actors in the field of memory culture.
Oana Bajka welcomed all participants in the TOLI family of teachers.
Thank you!!!
Thank you to the TOLI team for their friendship and fruitful cooperation.
Many thanks to the seminar participants – you were all fantastic.
See you next year in another city of Serbia!
The seminar was part of the project Combating Holocaust Denial and Distortion through Active Citizenship, Remembrance and Education, implemented by a consortium of organizations, coordinated by the Intercultural Institute Timisoara and includes Terraforming. The seminar was co-funded by the European Union, TOLI, and the Dutch Jewish Humanitarian Fund.
