Tkuma Seminar “Along the Jewish Streets” for Zaporozhye Jewish and non-Jewish schools’ students

On March, 25^th Tkuma Center has conducted the Seminar “Along the Jewish Streets” for Zaporozhye Jewish and non-Jewish schools’ students. The Dnepropetrovsk event hosted children of different age (from 6 to 12), who were the actual and potential participants of “Mazal Tov” Zaporozhye Local Community Center Programs.

On March, 25^th Tkuma Center has conducted the Seminar “Along the Jewish Streets” for Zaporozhye Jewish and non-Jewish schools’ students. The Dnepropetrovsk event hosted children of different age (from 6 to 12), who were the actual and potential participants of “Mazal Tov” Zaporozhye Local Community Center Programs.

The Seminar was aimed both to introduce the Tkuma Center activity, and to massage the participants about historical premises and aftermaths of Holocaust, its moral-psychological peculiarities, as well as the main principals of tolerance.

In the frames of the seminar Dr. Igor Shchupak has presented some of Tkuma Museum exhibits. The stories about the displayed things have provoked genuine emotional involvement of all the participants. Having found about the past of children boots (that are kept in Tkuma Museum), the participants couldn’t keep the tears…

The participants have got acquainted with the immediate future Tkuma Center educational events, i.e. the IV Creative Works Competition “Lessons of Holocaust – Lessons of Tolerance” for students and teachers, joint Ukrainian-Jewish-Polish project “The Ark- 2”, etc. The students have also been presented the Tkuma Holocaust History publications. The procedure of Tkuma newspaper release stirred up the true children’s interest, beginning from newspaper modeling to its printing.

Zaporozhye schools’ students actively participated in Tkuma seminar and became aware of Jewish and Slavonic life during the Nazi occupation period as well as Andrey Sheptitskiy activity. The children had a chance to compare 2 abysmal tragedies of XX century – Holodomor 1932-33 Jewish nation catastrophe.

Before the event the participants heard a lot about the Tkuma Center activity on Holocaust investigating. During the seminar students managed to learn more about Tkuma staff, museum exhibits and Tkuma Center publications. Moreover, children had opportunity to get acquainted with the author of textbooks, included in the school curriculum.

The Tkuma Seminar was considered to be very cognitive for the young participants, contributing immensely to the enriching of their awareness. The main aim of such seminars is to prevent next generations from forgetting the tragedy horrors and teach them to remember about Holocaust lessons.