EL ARCHIVO MÁS IMPORTANTE QUE LA VIDA | EDUCATIONAL SEMINAR AS PART OF THE "INSPIRING CULTURE" PROGRAMME
A seminar titled 'El archivo más importante que la vida' ('The archive is more important than life') was organised for Spanish teachers and educators by the Jewish Historical Institute, in collaboration with the Polish Institute in Madrid and the Centro Sefarad Israel in Madrid, from 24 to 28 June 2024. During the extended period of intense activity, our Spanish guests had the opportunity to explore exhibitions, attend lectures, and actively engage in workshops, walks, and various other events.
Szymon Pietrzykowski, Jewish Historical Institute
The opening day offered a platform for individuals to acquaint themselves with one another, exchange insights about their activities and passions, and elucidate the reasons behind their presence in Warsaw and attendance at the seminar. The twenty participants, carefully selected by the coordinators from Centro Sefarad Israel - Israel Doncel Martin and Ana Pellicer Vázquez, who were also in attendance, comprised individuals hailing from different regions in Spain, including Madrid, Zaragoza, Valencia, Malaga, and Alicante. The participants included male and female teachers and lecturers specialising in diverse fields such as religion, art history, film, philosophy, and human rights. Their primary incentive was rooted in their need to acquire a greater understanding of the Holocaust and the Warsaw Ghetto's history, the culture of Ashkenazi Jews, the Ringelblum Archive, and their aspiration to witness the very places they educate their students about.
The second day of the event featured presentations by representatives of the Jewish Historical Institute and Centro Sefarad Israel, who discussed the history and offerings of their institutions. Anna Rosner, PhD, from the Jewish Historical Institute Research Department, then delivered a lecture on Jews in Interwar Poland (1918-1939). Paweł Bysko, the Education Department Head at the Jewish Historical Institute, provided a guided tour of the permanent exhibition titled "What We Could Not Shout to the World.” Agnieszka Witkowska-Krych, PhD, also from the Education Department at the Jewish Historical Institute, hosted a workshop focusing on the "Unobvious Unveilings of the Warsaw Ghetto." The day concluded with a guided stroll through the Jewish cemetery on Okopowa Street, led by Szymon Pietrzykowski from the Education Department of the Jewish Historical Institute.
Day three was devoted to a trip to the Treblinka Memorial and Museum. A member of the museum staff showed the guests around the exhibition depicting the history of the Treblinka I and Treblinka II camps and the site of the former German Nazi extermination camp.
The fourth day commenced with a guided tour of the permanent exhibition at the POLIN Museum of Polish Jews, titled “A Thousand Years of the History of Polish Jews”. Subsequently, two lectures were conducted—Agnieszka Witkowska-Krych, Ph. D., elaborated on the profile and legacy of Janusz Korczak, while Agnieszka Kajczyk, PhD, the head of the Heritage Documentation Department at the Jewish Historical Institute, presented the rich collection of photographs in the Institute's archives. The day finished with a leisurely walk in the Old Town.
The fifth and final day featured a lecture by Krzysztof Czajka-Kalinowski, the head of the Digital Collections and IT Department at the Jewish Historical Institute. The lecture focused on the utilisation of online archival resources in educational work, using the DELET portal as an example. The seminar concluded with a summary and the awarding of diplomas.
We thank the Polish Institute in Madrid and Centro Sefarad Israel for their exceptional collaboration. We hope the seminar lived up to the participants' expectations and that they will now, armed with fresh knowledge and experience, share what they have learned with their pupils and students. The next edition of the seminar is scheduled to take place in Madrid in early November 2024.
The project received funding from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as part of the “Inspiring Culture” programme for 2024-2025.
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