Workshops
At the closing plenary session on Friday, 28 January, the State Secretary, Par Nuder presented a summary of the work conducted by the panels and workshops during the three-day conference.
In his introduction he said: "The Stockholm International Forum has demonstrated that we share a common and growing commitment to remember the victims, and to learn from the tragedy of the Holocaust. This unprecedented gathering has surpassed our greatest hopes. We must now build on the commitments made by so many political leaders and translate them into action. We have made an effort to explore major dimensions of Holocaust education, remembrance and research and the diverse institutions and means engaged in these pursuits. The Forum sought to encourage the idea that by remembering, educating about and studying the Holocaust, we can arrive at a common recognition of the need to combat racism, ethnic hatred and ignorance of the past. Our intention was to promote dialogue between survivors, experts and delegates in the panel discussions and workshops."
On the second day of the conference - January 27 - participants were able to join one or two of the 13 workshops. The theme of each workshop was linked to one of the three main themes of the conference: Education, Research or Remembrance. Below we present some of the viewpoints put forward by invited experts in these areas. The excerpts in the following are cited without mentioning any names.
During the workshop "Pedagogy: Theories, Tools and Result" the importance of life-stories was emphasised as a vital tool in Holocaust education. In their tuition, teachers need to use, not only the life-stories of victims and bystanders, but also the life-stories of perpetrators. This kind of education will make pupils aware of the fact that in the course of his or her lifetime, a person can become a victim, a perpetrator and a bystander (and also a rescuer).
Participants also stated that there is an urgent need to discuss the general didactic question: "Why shall I teach this?" in the field of Holocaust education. Most researchers seem to be only concerned with the question: "How shall I teach it?".
During the workshop entitled "Teaching in the Contemporary Context" one presenter mentioned that the Cape Town Holocaust Centre has helped people in South Africa to understand the processes underlying racism and prejudice.
During the workshop "Facing Denial in Society and Education" the moderator emphasised that the whole subject of denial was an obvious perversion. When he was first confronted with the subject in the seventies he could not imagine that it would become a matter of such grave concern. But time, he said, had proved him wrong. It was clear that the people who lie about the crimes of the Nazis were the ones most likely to repeat them. By lying about the Holocaust the anti-Semites seek to destroy memory. The purpose is to clear Nazism of its criminal stigma and to rehabilitate anti-Semitism.
"Use and Misuse of the Internet" was the theme of another workshop. Here participants discussed the tremendous power of the Internet, both for educational purposes and for the swift and extensive spread of hate propaganda. One of the presenters gave an overview of the use of the Internet, mentioning that 200 million people can access the Internet, including some 5 million children.
At the workshop entitled "Religious and Ethical Teachings and the Holocaust", the role of religion and ethics was considered. One of the presenters said that the Holocaust represents a massive failure on the part of many institutions ¥political, legal, cultural and above all, religious - to communicate the three dignities of human life: infinite value, equality and uniqueness. He also stated that Christianity carries the burden of a distinctive failure, also through its historical demonisation of the Jews. However, the religion of the victims is not entirely blameless either. There was lack of interaction combined with their negative images of others. Modernity as a cultural-ethical-religious system had also failed.
During the workshop "Testimony in Education" it was noted that survivor testimonies can provide human details that are not found in textbooks. Several speakers emphasised the importance of using personal stories to illustrate and make the extraordinary horrors of the Holocaust less abstract.
It was also emphasised that teaching the Holocaust requires the teacher to be well informed in order to prepare the class well. Only then can a visit by a survivor be really successful.
Another set of workshops focused on Remembrance. The panel with the title "Remembering the Holocaust - The Challenges of Memory" preceded these workshops. The session touched upon various aspects relating to Holocaust remembrance. Discussions focused largely on which aspects were important to remember - the Holocaust, its victims and the sites where it took place, or the process and political and social environment which led up to it. The role of memory was also debated, as were the changes that have taken place with regard to the way in which the Holocaust is being remembered.
One of the presenters stated that history happens twice: when an event actually takes place, and when it is recreated in history books. He argued that some governments and countries are not giving a true picture of what really happened in various European countries prior to and during the Second World War. In order to reveal all the facts, he proposed that an international commission should write the history of the Holocaust in Europe.
The session was summed up in several recommendations, for example:
- Governments should provide financial support for the creation of national museums with the aim of showing the life of Jews before the Holocaust.
- A European Commission on Holocaust sites should be set up.
At the workshop "Art and Other Media in Holocaust Education and Remembrance" the question was raised as to why art and literature were comparatively marginalised in the context of Holocaust remembrance, in contrast to the prominence given to historical research, documentaries, etc. The speaker suggested this might be because art is associated with aesthetic pleasure - a response at odds with the emotions aroused by the Holocaust. Art and literature about the Holocaust were therefore inherently controversial. But this should not mean that they were any less valuable or important as a tool in Holocaust education.
During the workshop entitled "The Public Perception of Remembrance" participants agreed that while every nation must have its own approach to Holocaust remembrance, one that is appropriate to its own cultural background, the subject of Holocaust remembrance in general must be constantly put on the international agenda because of its transnational character. The workshop welcomed the progress in Holocaust remembrance made in the last decade and stressed that a great deal remains to be done.
One of the conclusions from the workshop "Testimony in Remembrance" was that all types of Remembrance that facilitate contact with survivors must receive support. In the past we shut down memory, now we have a chance to hear different voices telling a variety of stories. We must have the means to accomplish this task. For the best results we must work with our historians and survivors.
At the workshop "Teaching About the Holocaust in the University Sector" it was claimed that there is only one answer to the question as to whether there should be a professor of Holocaust history at every university. That answer must be in the affirmative. In fact, the Holocaust was a brutal betrayal of Western civilisation, a negation of the values for which the French Revolution was fought and on which modern society is founded. We need to re-shift the focus, and thus the meaning and significance of the Holocaust. The reason why every university should have a professorship in Holocaust history is not solely because of the way it ended - in the murders of the 1940s - but also because of the way it began, when the Jews lost their civil rights, rapidly and with very little civil protest, in 1933. The Universities have a role in our society as guardians of the values we hold dear, according to this presenter.
At the workshop "Teaching and Researching Genocide from a Comparative Perspective" a number of different aspects pertaining to the study of genocide were discussed. Central themes were the "uniqueness" of the Holocaust, comparative research and genocide in its historical context, the role of the state as the perpetrator of genocide, and the international community's response to instances of genocide and gross violations of human rights.
When the discussion opened, certain questions, designed to serve as a framework for the discussion, were posed. Should the Holocaust be compared to other cases of genocide and massive violations of human rights? It was also noted that the idea of the uniqueness of the Holocaust conceals a fear that comparisons will relativise the Holocaust. It was therefore proposed that researchers should recognise the unique traits of the Holocaust without excluding the possibility of comparison with other cases of genocide.