The context of hiding
during the Second World War
as a challenge for
cultural memory organisations
A Grundtvig Learning Partnership financed by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission
Partners
- Castrum Peregrini, Amsterdam
- The Jewish Cultural Quarter in Amsterdam
- Jüdisches Museum Hohenems
- Silent Heroes Memorial Center of the German Resistance Memorial Center Foundation, Berlin
- MAROM Klub Egyesület, Budapest
- Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw
Summary
This project brings together organisations in the field of holocaust memory and adult learning about the second world war. They share an interest in the history of hiding and the role of oral history for a learning environment that fosters active participation of learners in Museum settings. The project wants to
– be a platform for exchange on the subject of hiding in museum-, memory- and learning environments.
– find and map stories of hiding and build a website that makes them accessible for a broader public.
– give the visitor/learner an active role in finding stories of hiding, making use of online tools and the possibilities of smart-phone recordings.
The last generation of survivors will be in the focus of the activities and also the second generation of family and friends of survivors will be interviewed. The stories will be collected in an online database that can be used by all partners involved and by the wider sector of adult education that addresses the historic role of shelter. This project wants to develop an overarching web portal for the partners websites displaying Hiding places and their stories.
The physical places like the Anne Frank House, Castrum Peregrini and those collected e.g. by the Gedenkstätte Stille Helden in Berlin, will be visited and scrutinized with respect to their methodology of preservation, access for the broader public and educational material and activities.
External funding will ensure broad visibility of the website in all partner countries involved. A sustainability plan must ensure that after the learning partnership ends, the website will be further maintained and that it will be extended by other European countries that had a history of hiding during the 2nd world war.