Project Activities
In the course of the project, two project team meetings and two seminars were organised, involving representatives of key target groups: experts, curricula developers, educational multipliers, professionals and NGOs. The aim was to define and operationalise the foundations for production and transfer of knowledge related to the Slovenian Holocaust.
In the course of the project the team conducted regular fieldwork activities, including interviews and work in archives in Ljubljana, Salzburg, Berlin and Jerusalem.
Project meetings and seminars
Final seminar 25 May 2012
Seminar with teachers and trainers took place at the ZRC SAZU and hosted the entire project team, invited representatives from the Directorate for Education, the Educational Research Institute, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Sport and Culture and several researchers dealing with the topic. This was the opportunity where the handbook was put to the test. The response was very favourable and encouraging. The discussion crystallised several issues that needed attention in final preparation of the textbook.
Seminar with teachers 9 December 2011
In December 2011, Oto Luthar and Martin Pogačar met with a group of devoted and highly motivated teachers (Nataša Litrop, Boštjan Majerič, Klavdija Sipuš, Aljaž Selinšek, Karina Sekereš, Dušanka Horvat, Mateja Jevšnik) and Pavla Karba, senior advisor at the National Education Institute of the Republic of Slovenia.
The teachers were presented a draft version of textbook on the neglected chapter of Slovenian history, the Prekmurje deportation. After an intense and insightful discussion of the content and layout, the updated version was then sent to the teachers for a second review. Some of them decided to show it in their classes and have so far received very favourable response.
Meeting with Edward Serotta and Marjetka Bedra 26 August 2011
The Slovenian team met with Mr Serotta of Centropa and Mrs Bedrač, programme manager of Maribor Synagogue. We discussed the potential of future collaboration and decided to promote the new Centropa film, Three Promises, about a Slovenian Catholic priest who saved two Jewish girls during the war in Belgrade, in educational activities.
Second project meeting 26 May, 9-10 June 2011
The team met for the second time in late May and early June 2011 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The first part of the meeting was organised to discuss the results within the team, while at the second external experts participated as well.
We took the opportunity to present two elements, crucial for the continuation of our work: the handbook and the Neglected Holocaust website. In addition, we discussed the draft concept of the Holocaust Memorial day Exhibition.
The discussion led to detection of certain weak points and gave the team sufficient and substantial impetus to further develop the ideas for the website and the handbook. This occasion gave the Slovenian team enough motivation to consider creating a textbook for higher years of elementary schools, to accompany the teacher’s handbook.
Apart from team members, we had the opportunity to welcome external experts, dr. Eva Kovacs from the Institute of Sociology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences and prof. dr. Wolf Moskovich from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Both scholars provided invaluable contribution to better shaping further steps of project activities.
First project meeting 8-9 July 2010
The first project meeting took place in Moravske Toplice in Prekmurje, Slovenia. This was the opportunity to present detailed project outline and formulate strategies of goal implementation.
Fieldwork
The fieldwork consisted of many short-term trips over the period of project duration and was carried out by Slovenian team members. Four researchers interviewed 14 local actors and witnesses of the deportation of the Jews in Prekmurje. They visited them in Murska Sobota, Beltinci, Poznanovci, Gornji Petrovci, Fokovci, Hodos, Križevci na Goričkem and Bodonci. One interview was made with the Holocaust survivor Erika Fürst, while others are the stories of local actors.
In March 2011, dr. Luthar, a photographer and a map specialist visited the Jewish cemetery in Dolga vas near Lendava. Their task was to photograph all tombstones, measure the area and create a detailed map with locations of the tombstones. This data was then transferred to a ZRC SAZU online application, Arzenal, which now features a special collection: Jewish cemetery in Dolga vas.
The team members made several visits to the archives and museums in Prekmurje and Maribor, validating gathered data, collect additional photographic material (Mrs Erika Fürst kindly provided us with some very interesting photos), as well as to the archives in Ljubljana, Maribor, Vienna, Salzburg, Munnich, Belgrade and Jerusalem.