Euroasian Jewish News

Seminar "Tolerance. Lessons of Holocaust"

The "Tolerance: Lessons of the Holocaust" seminar was held in Minsk, Belarus, from March 14-16, 2003. The seminar was organized by the Union of the Belarusian Jewish Organizations and Communities (UBJOC), with the participation of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC), and the Ministry of Education of Belarus. Part of the EAJC's international program the seminar was part of one of the long-term projects of the UBJOC. The main participants in the seminar were teachers from non-Jewish schools of Belarus where, due to an initiative of teachers and the UBJOC, education programs on questions of tolerance and the Holocaust are in place.

At the opening of the seminar on the morning of March 14, addresses were delivered by EAJC General Council Chairman Joseph Zissels, UBJOC Executive Director Victoria Brumina and Inna Gerasimova, the UBJOC "Lessons of the Holocaust" program coordinator who is a senior lecturer of the Belarusian State Pedagogical University (BSPU). EAJC General Council member, UBJOC President Leonid Levin, sent greetings to the seminar from Berlin and wished the participants success in their endeavours.

After the formal opening of the seminar, lectures began. EAJC General Council Chairman Josef Zissels spoke on "Education for Tolerance in the modern world conditions". Ukrainian Center for Studying the History of Holocaust Director Anatoly Podolsky spoke on "The History of the Jewish People in the Context of the World History" and "Antisemitism and Nazi Ideology: The Holocaust in Europe." Senior lecturer of the Brest State University Eugeny Rozenblat spoke on "The Holocaust on the Territory of Belarus: Problems of Study".
The seminar participants then visited the "History and Culture of the Jews of Belarus" museum.
The first day of the seminar concluded with a traditional Sabbath meal, in which the teachers of non-Jewish schools participated enthusiastically. There were speeches during the evening from EAJC General Council Chairman Josef Zissels, the Belarus Ministry of Education Higher Schools Department Head Nadezhda Galushchenko, Head of Representation of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) in Belarus Shalom Yakir and Belarusian Association of Former Prisoners of Ghettos and Nazi Concentration Camps President Michael Treister.
On March 15, 2003 the seminar commenced with a lecture by Vladimir Nikitenkov, senior lecturer of the Brest State University, on "Problems and Prospects of Teaching the Theme of Holocaust in Educational Institutions of Belarus".
Discussion on the theme of this lecture took place at a Round Table on "Teaching the Theme of Holocaust in Educational Institutions of Belarus", co-chaired by Inna Gerasimova, Vladimir Nikitenkov and Eugeny Rozenblat. Nina Khodar, Chief of the Department for Nationalities of the State Committee for Affairs of Religions and Nationalities of Belarus, also played an active role in the work of the Round Table.
Upon the conclusion of the Round Table, lectures continued. Zhanna Kowba, senior lecturer of the Kiev Institute of Culture, spoke on "Tolerance as a Form of the Communication in the Historical Retrospective". Svetlana Kandeeva, EAJC Program " Lessons of the Holocaust" coordinator, spoke on "Didactic Aspects of School Teaching of Concepts "Tolerance", "Xenophobia", "Genocide", "Holocaust" (Out of the Working Experience of Teachers of the Countries of the CIS)". Inna Gerasimova then spoke on "The Jewish Resistance in Belarus during the Holocaust". Inna Gerasimova, Vladimir Nikitenkov and Eugeny Rozenblat concluded the second day of the program with a workshop on the theme "Righteous Gentiles in Belarus".

The final day of the seminar, March 16, 2003, began with an excursion around the Minsk Jewish areas and the former Minsk ghetto territory. This was followed by a presentation of the UBJOC program "Lessons of the Holocaust", during which UBJOC Executive Director Victoria Brumina, and "Lessons of the Holocaust" programs coordinators, discussed experiences in the field. The coordinators were from a number of different cities and towns of Belarus, including Minsk (Inna Gerasimova), Bobruisk (Alla Abeleva), etc. Svetlana Kandeeva delivered a lecture on techniques of teaching the theme "Tolerance - Lessons of the Holocaust". At the conclusion of the seminar, books and teaching manuals were distributed, along with material for teachers to use in their further work.
Teachers expressed their satisfaction with the seminar's program and atmosphere, their desire to continue work in this area and volunteered a number of specific initiatives for the development of this program. These included an offer to hold similar seminars not only with schoolteachers, but also with students - "Children's School on the Holocaust". Within the framework of the program, it is envisaged that a national competition for schools of students' works on the Holocaust will be held, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education of Belarus.

Head of the EAJC Public Relations and Media Department