The Malmö Association of Eyewitnesses to the Holocaust
In the schools the "living history" of the Holocaust is a vaccine against Nazism and part of democratic education, at which the praiseworthy project of the Swedish Government is directly aiming. Teachers have quoted Martin Buber: "All real life is a meeting" in connection with the schoolchildren's meeting with the eyewitnesses of the Holocaust.
The Malmö Association of Eyewitnesses to the Holocaust was founded in December 1991 and ever since then the lecturers, survivors from the Holocaust, have visited the schools of Malmö and round about in the southern Swedish provinces of Skåne and Halland. During this period 60.000 pupils, mainly in grade 9 and secondary school have "met" and listened to these survivors, who "were there", in Auschwitz, in BergenBelsen, in nazi slave labour camps.
The lectures as a rule take place before an average on only 30 pupils and for 90 minutes. It has become apparent that the best contact is established between the listeners and the lecturer, when the audience comprise only one class. The school children will then have the best possibilities for questions and dialogues, and an enduring experience.
Since the start The Malmö Information Group of Eyewitnesses of the Holocaust, have consisted of 15-20 lecturers. Just now the Group have reached the total of 2000 lectures.
Behind the brave public appearance of the Group there lies a new paradigm in the human inner work with the deep wounds of the Holocaust. For more than 40 years the survivors had been fighting with their terrible traumas. When they were busy building a new life here in Sweden, only one thing could be done, repress the horrible memories. To go out and tell people about these memories was next to unthinkable. They wouldn't or couldn't even tell their own children.
At the beginning of nineties, however, most of the survivors realized that this was the last chance. To this attitude they were led by their bottomless indignation about the Neo-nazi denial of the Holocaust the survivors had to stand up to stand up and prove that the Holocaust had happened. They were also led by a feeling of guilt towards their next kin, who were murdered by the Nazis, and whose last will was a command that those who survived should tell the world about what had happened.
Finally they went out to tell the world.
Every year since 1991 has brought an increased demand from the schools for MaImö Information Group also for external reasons such as study tours to former concentrations camps, the film Schindler's List, the 50th anniversary of the liberation, and racist and antiSemitic violence in society, not least in Skåne (the Group has for instance been called in several times to classes in Klippan, a village in Skåe where Nazi violence has occurred). The investigation of 8000 pupils in Sweden schools in 1997, which was the basis of the Governments famous initiative, evaluated among other things the Nazi influence in different towns. It appeared then that the town of Halmstad was free from Nazism among the young people. Teachers of that town agree that this is due (among other things) to the activities that the Malmö Eyewitnesses of the Holocaust had carried on in the schools of that town for several years.
Prime Minister Gören Persson's great initiative "Living History" brought a marked increase of our activities and an encouragement for the whole information group. All members or our association have exerted themselves to the utmost in order to fulfill this increased demand for the assistance f the Group in schools.
The Group has been called in more and more to days devoted to a theme against racism. Then sometimes as many as nine of our lecturers come at the same time to a school and this has been described as "the greatest event of the year at school".
Teachers, headmasters, and school authorities are inspired by the awareness of the necessity of our activities. The Group is generally met by a response and understanding which rests on the firmly rooted Swedish tradition of humanity and democracy. In a letter to the group already in the first half on the nineties, the chief education officer of Malmö, Hans Persson, wrote to us: "You are doing a fantastically good and highly estimated job. In these days your achievement cannot be enough praised".
The pupils show the same feelings, the same natural seriousness as the teachers. Not only do hundreds of letters from the pupils bear witness to this but also their obvious strong emotion during the lectures. Even the classes that been judged by their teachers as restless and disciplinary difficult, become changed beyond recognition, and not seldom sit quiet in tears when the living witness is relating his or her story.
It deserves to be specially mention that everybody in the Malmö Information Group of Eye-witnesses of the Holocaust during all these years have joined in and done their job on a completely idealistic basis without any payment. They do not demand nor accept any fees. This also goes for all leaders and administrators.
Since the founding of Malmö Association of Eyewitnesses more than 8 years ago I have called the Group every month to a meeting, which has always been attend in full numbers. At the meeting visits booked by schools are planned in detail and followup of lectures is done together with an exchange of experiences.
At such monthly meeting the proposal was brought of educating younger lectures, "second and third generation" with the aim of their taking over the activities in the future. For this project a grant was made to Malmö Association of Eyewitnesses by the Government. The education of five young people was successfully carried through. However, for the school children today the most exiting thing is still to meet in person those who themselves have been victims of Nazi persecution in world war two.
But one inevitable day witnesses from second and third generation will be in great demand and called in by schools.
26 January, 2000
Harry Rubinstein,
Chairman of the Association of the Eyewitnesses of the Holocaust in Malmö
For further information:
The association of the Eye-witnesses of the Holocaust in Malmö Box 4198, SE-203 13 Malmö Sweden
Tel: +46-40-61184 60, Fax: +46-40-23 44 69