As part of the project “Indifference Hurts” two trainings for teachers will take place: on September 25^th in Jelenia Góra (10 am – 4 pm, Książnica Karkonoska, 27 Bankowa Street) and on September 27^th at the House of Edith Stein in Wrocław (9 am – 3 pm, 38 Nowowiejska Street). They are co-organized by the Edith Stein Society and the UNESCO Initiatives Centre in cooperation with the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The training in Jelenia Góra will be part of the Karkonoski Educational Picnic organized by the Lower Silesia Center for Teachers’ Improvement Branch in Jelenia Góra with the participation of the Książnica Karkonoska. The training will be accompanied by an educational exhibition devoted to the stories of the Righteous on which the educational materials have been based.

As part of the training, four stories of Righteous will be presented, along with teaching methods used during workshops with young people from 14 to 18 years old. Participants will learn how to adapt specific workshop methods to educational needs of a group and to the space and conditions of work. They will also discuss the relevance of the conducts and choices represented by the heroes of the Second World War, who risked their lives to save Jews.

The educational project „Indifference Hurts” is carried out in cooperation with the Museum of the History of Polish Jews by the Edith Stein Society in Wrocław. It is a continuation of a five-year work of the teams of the Edith Stein Society and the UNESCO Initiatives Centre on the stories of the Righteous. Its main goal is to popularize knowledge about these unique figures, the Righteous Among the Nations and Poles who saved Jews during the Holocaust. It is also supposed to promote – through their stories – European values and to present the history of the region.

As part of the project, MHPJ’s Educational Center participated in developing educational tools (lesson and workshop scenarios) about the Righteous Among the Nations. An international team of educators from Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria and the Netherlands worked on the scenarios. Finally, the team prepared four scenarios based on stories of Righteous from prewar and postwar Wrocław. As part of the project, the exhibition “Inhabitants of Wrocław we want to remember” was also organized in June 2010 at the House of Edith Stein in Wrocław. It presented the histories of the Jaworski family, Werner Krumme, Elfriede Wagenknecht and Jarosław and Izydora Wołosiański.

The project is financed from the funds of: the European Commission – the program “Europe for Citizens”, the International Visegrad Fund, the Goethe-Institut in Warsaw, the Foundation of Polish-German Cooperation. Partners: Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Gedenkstätte Stille Helden in der Stiftung Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand, UNESCO Initiatives Centre, Liberecka Obcanska Spolecnost (Czech Republic), Youth Council of the Presov Region (Slovakia), Anne Frank Zentrum (Germany) Anne Frank House (the Netherlands), Mauthausen Memorial (Austria).

More about the project on the website Indifference Hurts.