memory, understood from a sociological perspective as a product of many individual experiences.
Another discussion allowed participants to hear the voices of minorities and reflect on how minority narratives function in the face of dominant stories, resisting marginalization and erasure.
Conference participants then had the opportunity to meet in small groups to share examples of good practices in the field of memory, reconciliation, peace education, anti-discrimination, and inclusion. Representatives of Homo Faber from Poland, Aegis Trust from Rwanda, Pink Triangle Legacies from the USA, the Anne Frank House from the Netherlands, Terraforming from Serbia, and the Auschwitz Museum presented their projects.
“A great value of this discussion was the chance to talk about projects carried out in different parts of the world, in various contexts, showing that teaching about the difficult issues of our history can be approached in many ways, thus providing inspiration for further educational work,” summarized Dr. Agnieszka Kita, moderator of the session and a deputy head of the Auschwitz Museum’s Archive.
On the third day, the discussion turned toward the future. The first panel concerned the difficult memory of crimes and its role in times of crisis.
“We reflect on many challenges and problems that make up this crisis situation. We should also think about the fact that we, as educators, people working in the field of memory, are part of this problem,” concluded Dr. Matthias Heyl, Head of Education at the Ravensbrück Memorial.
During the next session, attention focused on the processes of sharing memory and shaping narratives about the past from an institutional perspective. The panelists unanimously emphasized the need to pay more attention to the audience’s perspective, which defines the way both the place and the stories told are understood.
The final discussion tried to answer the question about the future of memory from a global perspective.
“It is true that memories of crimes, wars, differences occupy our minds because they are divisive, and things that divide tend to attract our attention. But I want to propose another approach to this thinking. I believe that stories of cooperation — stories of peace — are much stronger than stories of war and cruelty. We cooperate all the time. All our history is a history of cooperation. […] And that is why we have complex societies. And that is why we are capable of terrible things like what happened at Auschwitz. But that is also why we can build, reconcile, and organize a conference like this one, which in a constructive way reflects on the atrocities of the past,” — emphasized Nadav Neuman from Sapienship.
“We did not manage to answer the question posed in the title of the conference. But that was not the goal. Far more important was to look for answers together,” summarized Nataliia Tkachenko, one of the conference coordinators at the ICEAH.
“We hope you will take away the feeling that in the face of this crisis you are not alone, that there are more of us — people who share the same values of diversity, tolerance, respect, democracy, and peace,” added the other conference coordinator, Marine Dudziak-Vannier.
During the conference, the “If Not for Those Ten…” awards were also presented, recognizing volunteers and representatives of institutions supporting volunteerism at the Memorial.
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