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Holocaust-Memorial Architecture Student Workshop at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem to be held on August 10 - 31, 1997

MORE than fifty years have passed since the Holocaust. In the nature of things, the more distant we are from an historical event, the less significance it has for us. Personal memory fades, and collective memory is notoriously short. Although the Shoah is a seminal event in history, the memory of the Shoah might suffer similarly over the years. The survivors' generation, the witnesses of the Shoah, were our inspiration for remembering the Holocaust, and a motivating force to strengthen our efforts to ensure that this appalling calamity should never be forgotten. We stand today at a historical crossroads, which obligates us to take the necessary steps in order that the torch of memory may be passed on to the third and fourth generations. Yad Vashem, the Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, is the Jewish people's most important institution for the commemoration and documentation of the Holocaust. We must, therefore, use the last "historical minutes" to expand our research facilities and prepare an effective response to the changing needs of future generations in the 21st century. Contrary to usual historical response, interest in the Shoah has increased in recent years.

The development plan "Yad Vashem 2001" was formulated to enable Yad Vashem to respond to the enormous challenge with which it currently faces. The plan has five main components which will be carried out parallel to existing projects: the new archive building, the computerization of the data base, the Central School for Holocaust Studies, the enlargement of the Historical Museum and a new visitors' center.

On this specific background, the following activities are planned:

1) Holocaust-Memorial Architecture - Student Workshop

Yad Vashem, the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, and the Austrian organizations Gedenkdienst, Innsbruck, and Arche, Platform for Intercultural Projects, Vienna, in conjunction with other institutions are organizing an international student workshop and a series of activities aimed at highlighting the subject of the Holocaust-memorial architecture. The resulting ideas generated by the discussions of the students and young architects could be an enriching contribution to the development plan "Yad Vashem 2001".

The interactive workshop, to be held in English, will take place in Yad Vashem on August 10 - 31, 1997. It will deepen the participants' comprehension of the Shoah, its history and its implications, through a wide range of lectures, excursions and discussion groups, as well as encourage the students to offer suggestions and present them through architectural means. Memorial architecture is a something of a stepchild within the architectural spectrum. In order to compensate for this deficiency, interested students will have an opportunity to attend the workshop under the patronage of Yad Vashem. Seminar coordinators are Zeev Druckman and David Guggenheim (Jerusalem), the lectures at the workshop include Elinoar Barzacchi (Tel Aviv), Jean Pierre Le Dantec (Paris), Hermann Gruenwald (Norman, Oklahoma), Antoine Grumbach (Paris), Laurent Israel (Paris), Perla Kaufmann (Haifa), Daniel Mintz (Jerusalem), Raoul Pastrana (Paris), Robert Jan van Pelt (Ontario), Anton Schweighofer (Vienna), and Alexander Tzonis (Delft) as well as several guest lecturers.

The participants will receive academic credit for their projects. The workshop's curriculum is multi-disciplinary, affording an eclectic approach toward memorial architecture. It will furthermore raise questions about the purpose of memorials, the current state of memorial architecture worldwide etc. The international workshop aims to reinforce the students' knowledge and sensitivity in the field of Holocaust.

2) Presentation The results of the workshop - sketches, models, plans and photos - will be displayed at an exhibition from the last day of the workshop until November 1997 in Jerusalem.

3) Exhibition tour Planned exhibitions: At commemorative centers and architectural schools in Israel, America and Europe.

4) Publication A catalogue summarizing the achievements of the workshop and detailing the students' projects will be published in November 1997.

Information for the Students Application for participation

The participants (young architects and advanced students of architecture and urban and landscape planning) are asked to apply with their curriculum vitae and a statement on their personal attitude towards the Holocaust or reasons for being interested in the workshop. The organizers will select the participants according to their architectural qualifications and experience and sensivity in the field.

Schedule (draft) Sunday 10.8. Opening session. Tour of Yad Vashem 11.8. - 14.8. Holocaust lectures. Written Assignment: First impressions of Yad Vashem 15.8. Field trip to the Diaspora-Museum, Tel Aviv 16.8. Field trip to Kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot (Ghetto Fighters' House), Western Galilee Sunday 17.8. Outline of subtopics 18.8. - 20.8. Work on projects 21.8. Work on projects. In the evening: First review of proposed ideas 22.8. Field trip to Masada Sun, 24.8. Work on projects 25.8. - 28.8. Work on projects Sunday 31.8. Presentation. Farewell party

Description After an official welcome at Yad Vashem, the program for the first five days of the workshop will concentrate on expanding participants' knowledge of the Holocaust. Students will be given an in-depth tour of Yad Vashem, including the Historical Museum and the Museum of Holocaust Art.

Thereafter, guest professors will lecture on the Holocaust and related topics including "Paradigms of Jewish Reactions to the Holocaust", "Responses of German Society to Nazi Anti-Jewish Policy, 1933-1938", "Judenraete", "Aftermath: Holocaust and Society", "Modern Antisemitism", "Impact on the Second and Third Generation", "Remembrance Sites - The Importance of Remembrance in the Jewish Tradition". The participants will give prepared lectures on the Holocaust or Holocaust-memorial architecture. A Holocaust survivor will relate his or her experiences.

On day 8, seminar coordinators will outline and specify the principal aims and assignments of the workshop and introduce the subtopics. Participants will choose their own subtopics, e.g. the enlargement of the Historical Museum, the entrance to Yad Vashem, general urban planning, or suggestions for additional infrastructure.

The 10-day period devoted to the design and realization of the projects will provide manifold opportunities to meet different social groups with both secular and religious components, including Holocaust survivors, Yad Vashem representatives, soldiers, students and tourists who might influence the participants' thinking. Halfway though, Yad Vashem representatives and architects will review the students' proposals.

On several evenings there will be lectures on contemporary memorial architecture, e.g. the "Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe" in Berlin, and the "Memorial and Commemorative Site for the Jewish Victims of the Nazi regime in Austria, 1938-1945" in Vienna. There will also be a lecture with slides on the previous workshop in Terezin (Theresienstadt), "Reflections on Terezin", held in 1994, and on Terezin today.

Excursions Three excursions will complement the workshop. One field trip will take the participants to Masada, the other will demonstrate the complexity of Jewish culture as displayed in the Diaspora-Museum in Tel Aviv.

The third destination will be Beit Lohamei Hagetaot, the Ghetto Fighters' House, and Yad Layeled, a Holocaust museum specifically for and about children. The idea of a children's museum was conceived by Yitzhak 'Antek' Zuckerman, co-commander of the Warsaw ghetto uprising and a founder of the Ghetto Fighters' House. After Zuckerman's death in 1981, the idea was expanded into a living educational memorial for the child, to commemorate the 1.5 million Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust. Yad Layeled is designed for young visitors between the ages of 9 and 15, and its main goal is to introduce children in an appropriate manner to the private world of the child who lived during the Holocaust.

Lecturers Seminar coordinators are Zeev Druckman and David Guggenheim (Jerusalem). The lecturers at the workshop will include Elinoar Barzacchi (Tel Aviv), Jean Pierre Le Dantec (Paris), Hermann Gruenwald (Norman, Oklahoma), Antoine Grumbach (Paris), Laurent Israel (Paris), Perla Kaufmann (Haifa), Daniel Mintz (Jerusalem), Raoul Pastrana (Paris), Robert Jan van Pelt (Ontario), Anton Schweighofer (Vienna), and Alexander Tzonis (Delft) as well as several guest lecturers.

Organization of the workshop: The expected 30-40 students will not be divided into classes, but will remain together in one group.

Credit Students will receive academic credit for their projects from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design (2 academic hours/points).

Registration Participation and tuition is free. The registration fee is US 100,- which covers the cost of the excursions.

Flight and accommodation costs for students Flight and accommodation costs must be covered by the students. Please try to find sponsors for your expenses.

Accommodation Accommodation will be reserved in six and eight bed rooms at the Jerusalem Inn which is located in the center of Jerusalem. Price is US 16,- per night (bed and breakfast).

Contacts David Guggenheim, architect, 10 Emek Refaim St., Jerusalem 93105, Israel Tel ++972 - 2 - 561 01 03, Fax ++972 - 2 - 566 49 26

Erich Koller, Yad Vashem - Archives, POB 3477, Jerusalem 91034, Israel Tel ++972 - 2 - 6751 642, Fax ++972 - 2 - 6433 511, edu@yad-vashem.org.il (Subj. Memorial Architecture)

Holocaust-Memorial Architecture - Student Workshop at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, to be held on August 10 - 31, 1997

Organized by Yad Vashem bezalel academy of arts and design Arche Gedenkdienst