On July 21 – 22th, a seminar for teachers of Tolerance Education Centers was held in central Lithuania.
The seminar on “Local history, its use in the educational process. Acquaintance with the XXth century history events in Balbieriškis, Merkinė and Raseiniai district“was attended by 25 teachers from Tolerance Education Centers operating throughout Lithuania.
The seminar aimed to introduce teachers to several places in Lithuania, where there are many historical objects and projects fostering historical memory are implemented. A visit was also planned to the Tytuvėnai Holocaust Victims’ Site, where the destruction of the Tytuvėnai Jewish community began 80 years ago.
On July 21st, the first place visited was the town of Balbieriškis, where there are as many as two Tolerance Education Centers, although the town is home to only about 900 people. Teachers got acquainted with the local history, implemented projects in Tolerance Education Centers, learned about the life of the Jewish community in Balbieriškis before the Second World War.
From Balbieriškis, the participants of the seminar went to Merkinė. The director of the museum Mindaugas Černiauskas presented the museum’s exposition, told about the nearest plans to build a monument to Adolf Ramanauskas – Vanagas. Teachers learned about the struggles of resistance that took place in the surroundings of Merkinė. During the sightseeing tour, the old Jewish cemetery was visited as well as the site of Holocaust victims in the pine forest of Merkinė.
On the second day of the seminar, on July 22nd, the teachers went to Tytuvėnai. After getting acquainted with the history of Tytuvėnai, visiting cultural objects, the participants of the seminar went to the outskirts of the town, where the pine forest of Tytuvėnai begins. There are even several places of the Holocaust victims in this area where the Jews of Tytuvėnai were shot in 1941. The Road of Memory march, consisting of the attending teachers, traveled through the forest towards the monument to the victims of the Holocaust. In the depths of the forest, the participants of the Memory Road found a monument with an inscription that on July 25, 1941, 40 people were shot there.
The seminar for teachers was organized by the Secretariat of the International Commission together with the Tolerance Education Center of Ariogala Gymnasium. The Road of Memory in Tytuvėnai is one of the events of the project “The Road of Memory 1941 – 2021” implemented by the Secretariat of the International Commission.
Moments from the seminar:
