A three day international teacher training seminar for 25 educators and NGO activists from Moldova, Ukraine and Poland was held on November 4th – 6th, 2022 in Riscova, Moldova.
Together with our Moldovan partner NGO EcoVisio, we invited educators, community activists and NGO representatives from Ukraine, Moldova and Poland to share best practices on commemorating Jewish history, to promote active citizenship and to discuss how to teach 20th century Jewish history and the Holocaust to 21st century students.
“This experience was valuable and I use it in my work with children. We should promote peace and understanding between people and respect the culture of each person. This seminar has inspired me to carry out several activities. I already went with the students to the Jewish cemetery on 20.11.2022 and I am going to carry out other activities in which I will use the experience gained during the Centropa seminar. I will participate in other seminars, conferences and activities on the theme of Promoting Jewish civil society and heritage and Jewish heritage and history.” – A teacher from Moldova
Seminar highlights included:
- Tour of Chisinau by Irina Shikova (Maghid. Jewish Heritage Moldova) on both hidden and visible Jewish heritage within Moldova’s capital and on its outskirts
- Introduction to Centropa‘s Moldovan biographies by Centropa staff and partners
Screening of Centropa‘s educational short film “Survival in Sarajevo”, exploring the role the Jewish community and a synagogue played during the siege of Sarajevo, as well as the importance of interfaith and international relationships and teamwork - Interactive group work to develop lesson plans based on Centropa material
- Historical lecture by Irina Shikhova on Jewish history in Moldova
- Preview of the AudioWalk for Bessarabia with Irina Shikhova, guiding listeners through unheard excerpts describing important landmarks for Jewish Bessarabian history
- Interactive Workshop with Olga Polyak (Insha Osvita), with artistic methodologies and practices which can be implemented when teaching Jewish history
- Presentation of Centropa’s exhibition ‘Fleeing the Holocaust: Jewish Refugees in the Caucasus and Central Asia’ with an introduction from Irina Sikhova, co-curator, and Ion Ungureanu from EcoVisio
With the help of the German Foreign Office and other supporters, Centropa and its partners in Ukraine and Moldova have held 12 training seminars for over 400 educators in Kyiv, Odessa, Lviv, Chisinau, as well as online workshops during the Covid 19 pandemic.
