On 18 – 19 November, a seminar for Lithuanian teachers organized by Centropa took place in Vilnius.
The two–day seminar, “Learning about the history of Lithuanian Jews by analysing family stories,” took place in Vilnius.
The educational event was attended by 30 teachers from different parts of Lithuania, with about half of the participants coming from schools with Tolerance Education Centres.
According to Katja Grosse–Sommer of Centropa, the seminar aimed to discover the history of Lithuanian Jews by analyzing the personal stories of the local Jews: their lives before the Second World War and the horrific subject of the Holocaust.
Ingrida Vilkienė, the coordinator of the International Commission’s educational programs, told the participants about the activities of the International Commission and the activities and projects implemented by Tolerance Education Centres on the topics of Lithuanian Jewish history. Regarding methodological recommendations to help teachers talk to their students about the life of Lithuanian Jews, Ingrida Vilkienė recommended using the Centropa publication “Shtetl Stories. Lithuanian Jews Remember the 20th Century”.
The teachers who participated in the seminar listened to a lecture by Dr. Lara Lempertiene, visited the Vilnius Sholom Aleichem ORT Gymnasium, and visited the Paneriai Memorial.
Gintarė Liorančaitė, the Centropa coordinator in Lithuania, emphasized to the participants that this seminar is like an introduction to the history of Lithuanian Jews.
The seminar was supported by the Claims Conference and co-funded by the European Union.
