Neighbours Who Disappeared Exhibition at the Czech Embassy in Washington

On its journey through the United States an opening ceremony of the travelling exhibition of Culture and Education Centre Neighbours Who Disappeared took place at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington in presence of the Czech Ambassador Petr Kolář on the occasion of the Holocaust Memorial Day, January 27. The exhibition was held under the patronage of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

During three morning programmes about a hundred of students from local schools attended a workshop created especially for this occasion and got acquainted with the works of their peers under the supervision of Marie Zahradníková, a lecturer from the Culture and Education Centre of the Jewish Museum in Prague. They were also offered the possibility to meet Czech Holocaust survivors who presently live in the U.S. In case they are interested, similar works as in the Czech Republic could originate also on the American continent.

Since last April, two copies of the exhibition have been travelling over the United States. On the occasion of January 27 another version was opened in Trento, Italy, in presence of the city's Mayor. In May the exhibition is going to set on a journey through Germany.



Schedule:
23 July 2007: Neighbours Who Disappeared Project workshop for a group of nine students aged 17
24 July 2007: workshop for a group of 54 students aged 12 year and 6 teachers from the Magnet Programme; afternoon tour of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum
25 July 2007: workshop for a group of 44 students aged 12 and 6 teachers from the Magnet Programme
                  7 p.m.: opening - opening word; speech of the Ambassador Petr Kolář and Arthur Burger from USHMM that took patronage over the exhibition
26 July 2007: interview with the journalist Aaron Label from Washington Jewish Week

Description of the workshop for students and pupils:
a) Preparation in schools before attending the exhibition: screening of the English version of the Neighbours Who Disappeared documents
b) Workshop:
      1.)Brief introduction + brainstorming their knowledge of the Czech Republic, Czech lands, Czechoslovakia or famous Jews of Czech origin
      2.) Short opening lecture and PowerPoint presentation History of Jews in Czech Lands with Emphasis on Holocaust
      3.) Dividing in groups: group work focused on stories from individual display panels with Tribute to Child Holocaust Victims (Chotěboř, Litomyšl, České Budějovice, Plzeň a Krnov): their task is to prepare either a poster on the issue or a script of a radio play
      4.) Group presentation of the outcomes of the workshop
      5.) Conclusion: what have they learned? Would they be interested in joining the project in the U.S. - we can arrange a contact with the survivors living in the U.S. Homework: explain why it is important to teach about Holocaust and especially by way of personal histories?


Ideas for working groups - accompanying activities for the Neighbours Who Disappeared exhibition
I. Training session for the group of guides (in case, that teacher is willing to prepare a small group of volunteers - future guides of NWD exhibition)
(students 12-18 years old)
Familiarization of panels
This group will use small copies of panels as working sheets.
(30 min)
Presentation
After reading the story of each panel carefully (each group has one or two panels).
Time: 20-30 minutes tot
They are then ready to share this story with others in the classroom
Time: 40-60 min.
Discussion - each panel is offering specific questions
Total time: 60 - 90 minutes
This group is trained to guide through the exhibition their peers visiting the exhibition
II. Workshop for the school groups coming for the exhibition as visitors
(students 12-18 years old)
Familiarization of panels
These groups can also use small copies of panels as a working sheet.
Students can prepare their presentation in small groups (10-15 groups, each group has its own panel with its story).
Time: 30 minutes
Presentation
After reading the story of each panel carefully they will be ready to share this story with others in the classroom. Students do not need lot of time for presentation (5-10 minutes each).
Total time: 60 - 70 minutes
Following activities
- At home, students can prepare a script for a film, write an essay, report etc, create a web page etc. (panels serves almost as a script, they can also look for more info on the web page www.zmizeli-sousede.cz)
They can also speak with somebody from their family (or friends) about that time, then record the discussion using questions like
-Did you know somebody who escaped from Europe?
-How it happened?
- Did somebody help him or not?
Students can create their own project, their own website connected with ours (for us that is of course a best result empowering basic project) etc.



Reactions in press:
ČTK, Washington Jewish Week, Hospodářské noviny, Metro

Reaction on the Internet:
Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, D.C.
Neighbours Who Disappeared



Prague, 9 February 2007

Mgr. Marie Zahradníková

Workshop in Washington D.C.
(5 min, without sound)



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