PROMPTING LOCAL INVOLVEMENT FOR HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE IN ROMANIA
The Holocaust perpetrated under Romanian authority is still underrated. A national survey condoned in 2021 shows that 65% of the respondents still externalize responsibility toward Germany as the main perpetrator of the Holocaust in Romania. It is both a lack of knowledge and a matter of thinking about what is particular in general terms.
Project (#101091243) financed through Program Citizenship, Equality, Rights, Values (CERV-2022-CITIZENS-REM).
Duration: December 2022-December 2024
Language: Romanian
Context: the Holocaust perpetrated under Romanian authority is still underrated. A national survey condoned in 2021 shows that 65% of the respondents still externalize responsibility toward Germany as the main perpetrator of the Holocaust in Romania. It is both a lack of knowledge and a matter of thinking about what is particular in general terms.
Objectives: to circumvent this problematic approach, we propose a local perspective materialized in 2 objectives:
1. To frame Holocaust memory by emphasizing local specificities and boosting local awareness.
2. To construct tools that will make visible the diversity of Holocaust victims. We aim to take the story to a micro-historical level and to particularize victimhood.
Therefore, we propose a set of 10 outdoor exhibitions – Images from the Past. The Holocaust in Romania– that will tell the story of the Jews and Roma from 10 counties.
The localities were selected to cover the multiple facets of the Holocaust under Romanian authority, primarily interested in places where there are few or no local recollections regarding the Holocaust.
Each exhibition will have eight panels, six of which will be covered by the project researchers and two by high school students from each city. All panels will be created as graphic novels.
Before each exhibition, a workshop will be organized for 20 local students to explain the concept, present the history of the local Jewish and Roma communities, and stimulate their input for the panels reserved for them.
Target public: As the materials will be exhibited in the downtown of each city, we aim to have access to the general public.
The exhibitions will be uploaded on the project website, with open access, so teachers can use them in class.
The offline exhibitions shall be lent to schools across the country upon request.
All ten exhibitions will be printed as a Graphic Novel Album.
The project’s closing event will consist of an exhibition opened in Bucharest that puts together a selection of local exhibitions.
Contact:
Ana Bărbulescu
research.inshrew@gmail.com
