So the million dollar question is what is the main purpose of this study tour? The obvious answer is to study at the International Centre for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem. And I do think that each of us has our own reasons for wanting to get a deeper understanding of this terrible period in our modern era. My reason lies in my teen years when I became fascinated by the plight of the Jewish people through avidly reading Leon Uris' books. I was repelled and fascinated by the manifestation of evil that occurred during the Nazi period, and it has certainly helped to shape my interest in human rights and the need to stand up for what you believe in. I'm also really intrigued by how people endure terrible trauma and yet find the resilience to keep going. So I think that an immersion in how to teach the Holocaust and to make it meaningful is certainly an experience that I will never forget and I am indeed very privileged to be here in Israel on a scholarship.
There are three elements to the seminar: the historical background; the pedagogical aspect on how to teach it; and the experiential element, which includes listening to survivor testimonies and visiting various significant places in Israel. Our first lecture focused on developing our understanding of the key values that animated Jewish faith, through their historical experiences and narratives. The fundamentals of the Jewish faith was explained and I found it really interesting to see it constructed through the eyes of the religion and the biblical texts.
The most riveting lecture was from the Pedagogical Director of the Centre who challenged us to focus on 'how' we were to give meaning to the Holocaust; how were we 'to rescue the individual from the piles of bodies?' How could we give a human face to the victims? How do we teach the trauma of the Holocaust without traumatising students? Her main thrust was to connect the students with many of the moral dilemmas that people needed to face and choose one path over another. And to use the testimonies as authentic sources to search for understanding. We want students to empathise, not judge and we need to teach it with complexity not simplicity. Questions need to be asked, like 'How do you offer compassion and comfort to each other during a time of trauma?' 'What does it mean when people can 'give' to another in a world of chaos?'
We need to distinguish between history and memory. We need the history as the foundation but we also need to think deeply about what to teach and how to teach it to honour the 'memory'.
Well, our introduction certainly laid a strong platform for us to think about what will be the focus of our educational projects, which will be the outcome of our seminar, and how can we bring our students 'safely in and safely out'.
There are three elements to the seminar: the historical background; the pedagogical aspect on how to teach it; and the experiential element, which includes listening to survivor testimonies and visiting various significant places in Israel. Our first lecture focused on developing our understanding of the key values that animated Jewish faith, through their historical experiences and narratives. The fundamentals of the Jewish faith was explained and I found it really interesting to see it constructed through the eyes of the religion and the biblical texts.
The most riveting lecture was from the Pedagogical Director of the Centre who challenged us to focus on 'how' we were to give meaning to the Holocaust; how were we 'to rescue the individual from the piles of bodies?' How could we give a human face to the victims? How do we teach the trauma of the Holocaust without traumatising students? Her main thrust was to connect the students with many of the moral dilemmas that people needed to face and choose one path over another. And to use the testimonies as authentic sources to search for understanding. We want students to empathise, not judge and we need to teach it with complexity not simplicity. Questions need to be asked, like 'How do you offer compassion and comfort to each other during a time of trauma?' 'What does it mean when people can 'give' to another in a world of chaos?'
We need to distinguish between history and memory. We need the history as the foundation but we also need to think deeply about what to teach and how to teach it to honour the 'memory'.
Well, our introduction certainly laid a strong platform for us to think about what will be the focus of our educational projects, which will be the outcome of our seminar, and how can we bring our students 'safely in and safely out'.
Fascinating!
ReplyDeleteI am particularly interested in "How do we teach the trauma of the Holocaust without traumatising students?". It reminds me of a chapter from JM Coetzee's Elizabeth Costello on The Problem of Evil where she is to deliver a lecture on whether it is morally acceptable to write gratuitiously and graphically about things such as torture. The book and author she criticises actually exist - Paul West who wrote a novel on the execution of those who conspired to assassinate Hitler.
I have also heard it said that if you repeat your own stories too often, it results in re-traumatisation. So a delicate balance is required. I do believe that fiction can help; novels such as Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels do a good job of showing the individual element as well as the complexities.
If you are interested in how people survive such horror, you must read Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl (if you haven't already).
This is brilliant. It's also really making me miss history, and also second guess whether I should be studying history at Uni...but so so fantastic!
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