Ivano-Frankivsk – MitOst Festival 2015

For the 13th time MitOst, its members, partners and everyone interested in cultural, social and civic exchange in Europe and its neighbouring regions met at the International MitOst-Festival. Since 2003, the festival has taken place annually, every time in a different city and country. The MitOst Festival 2015 was hosted by Ivano-Frankivsk in Ukraine.

Centropa, as a new partner of MitOst e.V., took part in the festival for the very first time. Fabian Ruehle, Esther Cotoarba and Malwina Fendrych presented the Trans.History project and showed Centropa’s newest film “Return to Rivne” in the context of using digital materials for and through educators. Fabian moderated the discussion with the audience about the Holocaust, civil society and non-formal education.


Photos: Agata Maziarz

Lviv Seminar – July 2015

During the Trans.History Seminar in July 2015 in Lviv, over 30 Ukrainian educators, multipliers, museum and NGO workers met teachers and educators from the USA, Germany and Poland. During this two day seminar, the participants of the seminar listened to historical lectures about Ukrainian Jewry and civil society, watched two Centropa films and took part in various workshops on how to use Centropa materials best in their classrooms. Together they developed several lesson plans for history, language, civil society and literature classes and had the chance to brainstorm about setting up cross-border and international partnerships.


Photos: Taras Kovalchuk

Rivne Seminar – November 2015

At the seminar in Rivne which took place from November 5th – 7th, 2015, over 40 educators, multipliers, museum and NGO workers from Ukraine, Poland, Germany and USA had the opportunity to:

  • meet Shelly Weiner, a Holocaust survivor originally from Rivne, who was hidden by her Ukrainian neighbors during the Second World War for 20 months, and watch her story
  • watch Centropa films and work in small groups on creating new lesson plans that can be used in their classrooms
  • listen to lectures on Ukrainian Jewish history by Anatoly Podolski and prof. Maksym Gon
  • listen to American and German teachers tell you how they used Centropa’s Ukrainian stories in their classrooms
  • watch great videos made by students and learn about our competition for students
  • network and create international partnerships.

The seminar’s special guest was Shelly Weiner from Greensboro, North Carolina. During the Second World War, Shelly, her mother, her cousin and her aunt, were hidden by a Ukrainian family in the village of Miatan. Centropa made a multimedia film about Shelly’s wartime story, and the film premiered in Rivne on November 6th. The premiere took place after a commemoration service in Sosenski forest, where 17,500 Jews from Rivne, including many of Shelly’s family members, were murdered on November 5th and 6th, 1941. Furthermore, two educational experts from the US attended the seminar as well, thanks to the US Embassy in Kiev. RaeLynne Snyder of Baltimore City Schools and Barbara Hairfield of Charleston, South Carolina, spoke on civil society issues in their cities and how they were discussed with and by their students.

International festival of other education. History. Ideas. Innovations

International festival of other education. History. Ideas. Innovations was the very final event for both youth programs of non-formal education “Live History Workshop” and “Civic Engagement Workshop” as well as for the cross-sectoral project “Trans.history”, which combines formal and non-formal education in history. During the festival the participants had the opportunity to acquire successful tools and methods for working with local communities in Ukraine, Poland and Belarus; they could meet initiators of changes in various cities and were inspired to use new formats of working with the issue of history, as well as with communities and cities.

Trans.History during the Festival:

November 6, 2015 – 14:30-15:30
A commemorative event in the Sosenki forest. Remarks by Shelly Weiner, Anatoly Podolsky and local rabbi.

November 6, 2015 – 16:00-17:00
Screening of the film “Return to Rivne” as part of Trans.History project. Comments Centropa materials.

November 6, 2015 – 19:30
Cross-sectoral meeting of formal and non-formal education, exchange of methods and instruments. Moderated by Ivanna Chupak from Insha Osvita, trainer of non-formal education, and Malwina Fendrych from MitOst.

Location:
Cinema “Ukraine”, Independence Square, 2 | UA transcription: Kinopalats “Ukrayina”, maydan Nezalezhnosti, 2


Co-sponsored by:

Seal_of_an_Embassy_of_the_United_States_of_America_150x149

Embassy of the United States
Kiev, Ukraine


Photos: Taras Kovalchuk