Just as last year, 2016, proved to be rich in various events held by the Terezín Memorial, during this year, too, one can look forward to a number of Memorial-sponsored events.
On January 27, we commemorated the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, this time at a joint commemorative event staged by the House of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic, the Bavarian Diet, and the Foundation of Bavarian Memorials.
Commemorating the Holocaust victims in the former Crematorium in Litoměřice on January 27, 2017, January 2017, photo: Radim Nytl, Památník Terezín.
An annual act of remembrance Yom Ha´Shoah in honor of the Holocaust victims will be held in the spring, on April 24 to be precise. During the rally, more names of the deceased inmates jailed in the Terezín Ghetto will be read out again.
The third Sunday in May (this year it is May 21) is inseparably linked with the Terezín Commemoration to honor the victims of the Nazi persecution. This particular act of remembrance takes place in the National Cemetery, in the foreground of the Small Fortress. During the first days of May, this event will be preceded by a rally commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Memorial’s establishment on May 6, 1947.
On June 27, we will recall the anniversary of the execution of Dr. Milada Horáková, jailed in the Gestapo Police Prison in the Small Fortress during the Nazi occupation.
The Commemoration Kever Avot will be held on September 17, honoring the Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide in the Czech lands.
In addition to the above acts of remembrance, the Terezín Memorial will also stage a number of art exhibitions. For instance, drawings made in the Mauthausen concentration camp by its former inmate Zbyněka Sekal, or works of art by contemporary artists Václav Špale, Patrik Hábl and Francine Mayran will be also presented. The Terezín Memorial is also planning a number of its own exhibitions, whether a display of posters from the years 1947-2017, new acquisitions of the Terezín Memorial’s collections, or an exhibition of works by pupils and students who took part in an art competition, annually held by the Terezín Memorial’s Department of Education.
This year will see the 23rd literary contest and the 21st art competition, this time under the motto Is the Past Still Alive? Pupils and students can send in their entries by April 18 at the latest. The ceremonial presentation of the winning entries will be held in the cinema in the Ghetto Museum on June 7.
When looking ahead to the events to be staged by the Memorial, or rather by its Department of Education, this year we should not omit seminars for schoolteachers, either. Once again, seminars of all four levels of the project “How To Teach About the Holocaust” will be staged in 2017. These will be held on two occasions: between March 17 and 19, and from March 31 to April 2, both in Terezín. The second, follow-up seminar called “Holocaust in Education” will also take place in Terezín in the autumn; the third-tier workshop will be hosted by the State Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, while the fourth-tier event will be held in the Israeli Memorial Yad Vashem. Furthermore, those schoolteachers, who attended all four levels of the project, may also take part in the fifth-tier seminar in Poland and in Terezín. We are happy to note that schoolteachers from Denmark, Britain and Poland again showed their interest in the issues of the Holocaust and the Terezín Ghetto, and we will gladly welcome them again to the Memorial, one year later, for our educational seminars.
More detailed information on most of these events will be found in each new issue of the Terezín Memorial’s Newsletter.
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