Seminar for Western Balkan teachers


A three-day seminar for 50 educators from the Western Balkan countries was held at the Holocaust Memorial Center of the Jews from Macedonia, from 18 to 20 October 2019. The topic of the seminar was: "Studying the 20th century history of the Jews in the Balkans and the Holocaust, nurturing local culture of remembrance and regional dialogue". The seminar was opened by the director of the Memorial Center, Mr.Goran Sadikario, and the Austrian Ambassador to Macedonia, Dr.Georg Vucas and Fabian Rule, Director for Education from Centropa Europe, who addressed the participants. The seminar is organized by the Holocaust Fund of the Jews from Macedonia and Centropa. The participants had the opportunity to visit the Jewish community and see the “Beth Jacob” Synagogue. They visited the permanent exhibition, were actively engaged in the workshops led by the Balkan coordinators from Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia. They watched films made specifically for the needs of the teaching programs and are available on the Centropa website. The “Ideas Market” workshop focused on linking Centropa film "The Other Way" with a novel by Ivo Andric, experiences of using the Centropa film telling the story of Rifka and Elvira in the teaching process, and Centropa as a basis for connecting students from Macedonia with their peers from the countries of former Yugoslavia. They talked about the children in the Holocaust and made birthday greeting cards for all potential birthdays. The teachers watched Centropa film “Surviving in Sarajevo”. This film tells the story of how the Jewish community of Sarajevo, “La Benavolencia” was helping the people of Sarajevo during the 1992-1995 siege, regardless of their religion. A representative of the Agency for Preschool, Primary and Secondary Education of Bosnia and Herzegovina explained about how this film is used in the teaching process. The participants discussed and presented their ideas and suggestions for use of the film in the classroom. They also saw the exhibition “The Lost Sephardic World of the Balkan Jews” that includes Centropa archive photographs from library collections, and is dedicated to the Sephardic Jewish communities of the Western Balkans. Other Centropa films were also screened: "The Other Way" which tells the story of the arrival of Jews in the Balkans and "Epilogue - Those I Lost". The participants worked in groups and developed a curriculum for using the film in the instruction process. Each group presented their work, practical work experiences and contacts were exchanged, which will facilitate the cooperation and create joint projects in the future. The seminar was financially supported by the Holocaust Fund of the Jews from Macedonia, Centropa, the Claims Conference, the US Embassy in Skopje and the Austrian Embassy in Skopje.


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