Panel Discussion
Youth Leadership Program
Panel members:
-Marta Serwicka, Young leader
-Magdalena Litwa, Young leader
-Karolina Gajęcka, Young leader
Moderators:
-Mateusz Trojański, Anne Frank House
-Edward Skubisz, Dom Pokoju Foundation
The idea of this program is that young leaders actively support the educational outreach programs of both the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and the Anne Frank House in their communities/schools after the formal end of the project in 2018. This part of the project has a strong focus on the following problem: how to link Auschwitz and the Holocaust to present day issues. Emphasis was put on the reflection of the dangers of anti-Semitism, racism and discrimination. YLP aimed at making young leaders involved and empowered enough to realize their own educational projects. The Anne Frank House and other organizations provided the participants with the necessary skills and tools that enabled them to teach about authentic memorial sites.
Over 2017 and 2018, young leaders took part in meetings, the aims being both to organize an exhibition and a peer education training based on two existing exhibitions: Anne Frank – A History Today and I’m From Here. Poland of Many Nations, in their schools or cultural centres, and to realize their very own small projects that would be based on one of these tools. The workshops and meetings were delivered by representatives of Dom Pokoju Fundacja (The House of Peace Foundation) in Wrocław and the Galicia Jewish Museum in Kraków.
“It was about involving young people and encouraging them to act, which was the most important objective we set out during this project and during this seminar. […] When we provided young people with tools and supported them, we helped them to create their own action plans, which are still being created and developed right now. So we encourage them to take the story into their own hands.” – Mateusz Trojański, the co-ordinator of the Youth Leadership Program from the Anne Frank House.
A few years ago, the Anne Frank House created an international youth network of young leaders who act to counteract racism, discrimination and prejudices. Their actions are based on Anne Frank and her diary. Following the three-year joint project between the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and the Anne Frank House, the Polish young leaders are going to join this international network of young leaders.
During the discussion panel, three young leaders - Marta Serwicka, Magdalena Litwa and Karolina Gajęcka - talked about their experience, their projects and the work they accomplished throughout the Youth Leadership Program. Edward Skubisz, a representative of Dom Pokoju Foundation, who supported them through the project, moderated the conversation.