Living history - education for human rights: evaluation of the funding programme "Meeting living witnesses – the lives of former forced labourers" - main outlines; draft report

Abstract

"How do young people remember the Holocaust after more than 60 years? How can encounters with survivors contribute to an active remembrance? How does living history improve the sustainability of Education for Human Rights? In this context the 'Remembrance and Future'-Fund of the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future in Berlin asked the Research Group Youth and Europe at the C·A·P in Munich to give strategic advice by evaluating the nearly 2 Million Euro funding programme "Meeting living witnesses – the lives of former forced labourers" (2002-2005). The opinions of over one thousand young people in Germany, over one hundred living witnesses in Europe and almost fifty institutions were considered in the qualitative approach of this evaluation. Getting to know the victims of the Holocaust personally helps especially young people to come to a better understanding of the darkest hours of humanity. One of the greatest opportunities of those encounter programmes lies in making a change in perspective possible. As the results of the evaluation show, bridging the historical gap and deepening the knowledge about the Holocaust are the main benefits of the fund programme. Personal meetings with survivors have a significant effect on the memory culture of young people in Germany, who do not pay much attention to official commemoration ceremonies. At the same time encounter programmes encourage the emotional aspects of learning and promote empathy and self-reflection - a prerequisite for the education of tolerance and democracy among young people in the 21st century. The Draft Report is an English summary of the entire evaluation, which is published in German, see: Eva Feldmann-Wojtachnia/ Oliver Hofmann, 2006: Erinnern, Begegnen, Zukunft gestalten - Evaluation des Förderprogramms 'Begegnungen mit Zeitzeugen - Lebenswege ehemaliger Zwangsarbeiter'; Munich." (author's abstract)