International student training 29.05.2023.

On 25 May 2023, within the WP3 as part of the UNITED project, we held an international online training for students from Poland, Croatia, and Italy. The training was organised and hosted by the Center of Jewish Cultural Heritage Synagogue Maribor.

The training consisted of two parts: the first part was dedicated to the presentation of the organiser, its work and mission, and the presentation of two examples of good practices in the research of local Jewish history and the Holocaust in Maribor, which were the result of the cooperation between the Center of Jewish Cultural Heritage Synagogue Maribor and two primary schools in Maribor. The second part of the training was dedicated to presenting examples of good practice in local Jewish history and the Holocaust research in Warsaw (Poland), Osijek (Croatia) and Verona (Italy). These presentations were performed by the students from all three mentioned European cities, and focused both on the research that has already been carried out and on how the knowledge gained from such research can be shared with other interested audiences to promote raising awareness about Jewish history in the local community.

The training started with an introductory greeting by the main coordinator of the UNITED international project, followed by presentations in the following order:

• Synagogue Maribor and its role in promoting Holocaust education in Slovenian schools (presented by Marjetka Bedrač, CJCH Synagogue Maribor),
• Case study: Jews in Maribor before WWII (presented by Boris Hajdinjak, CJCH Synagogue Maribor),
• Discovering local history: The story of Klara Kukovec (presented by Marjetka Bedrač, CJCH Synagogue Maribor),
• How I was saved & Otti Berger – an artist of world renown (presented by students of Ruđer Bošković Technical School and Natural Sciences Gymnasium, Osijek; under the mentorship of Ozana Vignjević),
• The way to Shoah (presented by students of General Stanisław Maczek Secondary School, Warsaw; under the mentorship of Katarzyna Szczudlińska) and
• Jews in Verona in the 30s’ work progress (presented by students of Ferraris-Fermi Institute of Higher Education, Verona; under the mentorship of Imma Buonocore, Roberto Pistoso and Lorella Pulimeno).

The training concluded with a short discussion aiming on exchanging ideas about the possibilities of continuing the research of local Jewish history and possible new approaches within such activities.

The project UNITED is implemented by the Nansen Dialogue Centre (Croatia) in partnership with the Technical school and Natural Sciences School Ruđer Bošković Osijek (Croatia), Glocal Factory (Italy), IIS “Ferraris Fermi” (Italy), Center of Jewish Cultural Heritage Synagogue Maribor (Slovenia) and WCIES (Poland) and is funded by the European Union through the CERV program.