Martyrdom & Resistance, March/April 2006

ID Transcript mare3204_01 ".■ .' ■ ■ ..- 'ol. 32-N0.4 ISSN 0893-1571 March/April 2006-Adar/Nisan 5766 SECURING HOLOCAUST REMEMBWAW ■ ■■ IV \J \3 vJ il tl U U W AV I I W IV JCSppH MEVERH0FFLI8WW EIGHTH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE ON HOLOCAUST EDUCATION MARLENE WARSHAWSKI YAHALOM, PH.D. Nearly 150 educators gathered to participate in our Eighth Professional Development Conference on Holocaust Education, held on March 19th, 2006 at the Pratt Mansions in New York City. This program was once again co- sponsored by the Association of Teachers of Social Studies of the United Federation of Teachers. Ms. Carolyn Herbst, past President and Chairperson of the UFT, delivered remarks on behalf of Levi Anthony, current President and Chairperson. This group of committed educators came from 7 states across the US and represented a variety of educational backgrounds: Hebrew day schools, public and private schools, parochial schools, administrators, alumni from our previous programs and alumni from Yad Vashem seminars held at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel. This year we featured a new Holocaust Education curriculum: Echoes and Reflections. This unit combines the pedagogical experience of Yad Vashem, the Anti-Defamation Vashem Jerusalem, Ephraim Kaye, Director, Department for Seminars for Educators from Abroad of the International School for Holocaust Final Solution. Dr. Yahalom spoke about the educa- Shulamit Imber, Director of Pedagogy tional programs of the American Society of the International School for Holocaust and how these programs aim to raise Studies of Yad Vashem Jerusalem, pre- awareness about the Holocaust. The lecture focused on how to train teachers to transmit the important lessons we can learn from the Holocaust to present and future generations. This is done by emphasizing that the Holocaust is a human story and the crimes committed were done by human beings to other human beings. The Holocaust is studied as an event that involved victims (who survived and perished), perpetrators, bystanders and rescuers. Using this approach, the distance between the observer/student and the event is decreased, enabling the interested person to become familiar with the subject. 'he talk emphasized that the events began prior to 1939, and that a rich and vibrant Jewish culture and civilization was destroyed as part of the extermination of the six million martyrs. By pointing out T! that lives existed prior to the Left to right: Dr. Marlene Warshawski Yahalom, American Society for Yad Vashem, Eli Zborowski, Chairman, American and horrific events of the International Societies for Yad Vashem, Shulamit Imber, Director of Pedagogy of the International School for Holocaust Holocaust students then com- League, and the USC Shoah Studies of Yad Vashem Jerusalem, Israel, Ephraim Kaye, Director, Department for Seminars for Educators from Abroad of prehend the loss in terms of Foundation Institute for Visual the International School for Holocaust Studies of Yad Vashem Jerusalem, Israel, Fanya Gottesfeld Heller, National Vice what was |0st rather than how History and Education. This Chairman, American Society for Yad Vashem, and Caroline Massel, Co-Chair of the Young Leadership Associates of the the destruction was carried out comprehensive ten-lesson pro- American Society for Yad Vashem gram focuses on the history of the Holocaust within the context of contemporary issues ,such as cultural diversity, genocide and intolerance. The workshop featured at this year's conference introduced educators to this unit and offered guidelines and direction to incorporate this excellent resource into the classroom. Workshops were moderated by four experienced educators: Shulamit Imber, Director of Pedagogy of the International School for Holocaust Studies of Yad Studies of Yad Vashem Jerusalem, Jennifer Rapoport, Assistant Director of the New York Region of the Anti- Defamation League, and Dan Tarplin, Project Director of the A WORLD OF A DIFFERENCE INSTITUTE of the Anti- Defamation League. At this year's Conference we offered the following five workshops: 1)Jewish Resistance, 2)Survivors and Liberators, 3)The Ghettos, 4) Perpetrators, Collaborators and Rescuers and 5) The sented a general lecture on the Educational Philosophy of Yad Vashem during the morning session of the Conference. Caroline Massel, Co-Chair of the Young Leadership Associates of the American Society, opened the program and Dr. Marlene Warshawksi Yahalom delivered a lecture on Holocaust Education and its relevance to the past, present and future, with considerations of securing Holocaust remembrance through education. This pays/tribute to the victims as human beings with a life, family and community, rather than as mere statistics/facts and figures. Dr. Yahalom also referred to the 60th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials and how the human perspective must be highlighted in this discussion, as well. From the Nuremberg verdict, we realize that the war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace were committed by individuals against others, and that it is the individuals that are (Continued on page 8) IN THIS ISSUE Securing Holocaust remembrance through education .....................1,8 David Irving reverts to extremism 2 Book reviews 4 Documentary exposes European anti-Semitism 5 Survivors' corner. 6 Survivor's art depicts heartbreak of the Holocaust 9 The end of L'Ecole de Paris 10 Report from the American Society for Yad Vashem 12 Floridians push for a proclamation of Jewish Heritage Month 14 U.S.-German flare-up over Nazi camp archives 15 AMERICAN AND INTERNATIONAL SOCIETIES FOR YAD VASHEM SIXTH ANNUAL S<P<SJ9fg LVNCff<EON WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 2006 PARK AVENUE SYNAGOGUE, NEW YORK CITY SEE PAGE 12 "