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Euroasian Jewish News
Another seminar, part of the "Tolerance - Lessons of the Holocaust" program by the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, was hel
04.07.2004
June 2004, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Another seminar, part of the "Tolerance - Lessons of the Holocaust" program by the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, was held in Almaty, the southern capital of Kazakhstan, in the last days of July 2004.
The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) and its member-organization "Mitsva" – the Association of Jewish National Organizations of Kazakhstan, organized the seminar.
The Science and Education Ministry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the Assembly of the Peoples of Kazakhstan, supported this program of the EAJC.
"We built our seminar around the example of the Holocaust – the murder of 6 million Jews from 1933-45. This is a glaring example of intolerance, isn't it," declared Alexander Baron, EAJC General Council member, President of the Association of Jewish National Organizations of Kazakhstan, to the press of Kazakhstan.
Teachers of the humanitarian disciplines from the comprehensive schools of Kazakhstan took part in the seminar. The round-table discussion united representatives from 14 regions of the country, as well as visitors from Turkmenistan.
EAJC's teachers, Svetlana Kandeeva and Vyacheslav Likhachev, delivered lectures together with their colleagues from Kazakhstan: Zhulduzbek Abylhozhin, Professor, Doctor of Historical sciences, Chairman of the Turkmen Social-Cultural centre in Almaty and Almaty region, Gulnara Annakulieva, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Isaak Grinberg, Chief of the Historical Club at Mitsva Association, Larisa Poltavskaya, Teacher from the Jewish Communal Center.
The lectures "Regional ethics as a basis of tolerance", "Islam and Koran - sources of consent and tolerance", "Experience of teaching the history of the Holocaust in schools: successes and problems" etc. let the teachers be convinced that the introduction of the topic of "Tolerance" into their school program opens new prospects for the personal development of a child. Information about sources, development and consequences of genocide in the past promotes the formation of basic national and religious tolerance among pupils and members of their families.
The discussions and roundtable talks were an integral part of the Almaty conference. It has helped to answer a number of questions, which are urgent for Kazakh schools.
After the Seminar's end, teachers from the EAJC pointed out the activities of their teachers, and their interest in the discussed theme.
They also remarked that the seminar's participants were considerably impressed with the documentary film, "Children From the Abyss," by Pavel Chuhrai.
The unique book exhibition, "Holocaust," also induced an emotional reaction from the audience. The exposition, which was prepared by the Republican Jewish Library, included more than 80 books about the Catastrophes of European Jews.
Some teachers said that it was the first time they had held in their hands the Black Book, by Ilya Ehrenburg and Vasily Grossman, the Righteous Men of the World, by Raul Vallenberg, In the Flames of the Catastrophe in Ukraine, by Joseph Maliar, and copies of documents from the Nuremberg Trial.
Representatives of the state's most authoritative mass media, scientists and public figures visited the seminar to speak with the lecturers and participants.
Sergey Tereshchenko, Deputy President of the Assembly of Kazakhstan's people, and Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, appreciated EAJC's program "Tolerance – Lessons of the Holocaust".
"It is your second seminar here," Mr. Tereshchenko said at the meeting with organizers and lecturers - "However, many of the teachers from Kazakhstan couldn't take part in it. Nevertheless, I think, that such a humane and necessary initiative of the Jewish world should be supported, and similar meetings should be carried out in all regions of our country. If after the course, "Tolerance - lessons of the Holocaust", at least one school boy stops offending his classmates based on their nationality or religion alone, it will have already been a tremendous achievement".
The EAJC also carried out similar seminars in Kyrgyzstan (June 25-27) and Uzbekistan (June 28 - July 2), information about which will be published later.
EAJC Public Relations and Media Department
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