History und Oral History
"History und Oral History. Jewish Life in Berlin"
A project led by the Institute for Jewish Studies and CeDiS (Center for Digital Systems)
In cooperation with the team of CeDiS at the Visual History Archive of Freie Universität Berlin and the Institute for Sports Science at the University of Potsdam, the Institute for Jewish Studies supervised a school-oriented project from September 2008 to 2013. The project focuses on ways of educating students about Jewish life in Germany before and after the Holocaust. Titled "History und Oral History. Jüdisches Leben in Berlin", this project was funded by the Leo Baeck Program "Jüdisches Leben in Deutschland - Schule und Fortbildung" (Jewish Life in Germany - School and Higher Education). It was led by Dr. Klaus Herrmann of the Institute for Jewish Studies, Verena Nägel (CeDiS at FUB) and Prof. Dr. Hans Joachim Teichler (University of Potsdam). Most of the research in the VHA video archive was completed by Wiebke Ehrenstein, Martin Popov and Tobias Weber, student assistants on this project.
The project's aim was to develop a workbook as well as digital study materials for students of higher grades, focusing on the topics "school and physical education", "Channukah and Christmukah" and "Bar/Bat Mitzvah and Jewish confirmation for boys and girls". Interviews with contemporary witnesses led by the VHA, the largest historical video archive worldwide, provided the necessary sources and material.
Background: illustrating processes of change
Using the history of Jews in Berlin as an example allows for clear illustration of processes of change in the way that Jewish identity was perceived in the Modern Era, which developed from a new differentiation between cultural or national and religious identity during the Enlightenment at the time of Moses Mendelssohn. At the very place where Jews found "answers to Modernity" and created new Jewish environments, they became the victims of unprecedented barbarism during the Shoah. The video recordings of interviews with contemporary witnesses by the VHA reflect the diverse daily life of Jews in Berlin before the Shoah.
As most interviewees were children or teenagers during the years prior to the Shoah, they often address topics that seemed especially appropriate for school children and create a direct connection with the life of children and teenagers today: family and every day life, school, sports, living with Jews and non-Jews in different parts of Berlin, how Jewish and non-Jewish teenagers interact with each other in school and during their free time, social and political changes after 1933 up until deportations to concentration and extermination camps. Therefore, "school and physical education", "Channukah and Christmukah" and "Bar/Bat Mitzvah and Jewish confirmation for boys and girls" constitute the main focus of this project.
Implementation of the materials in schools
The teaching materials were developped together with teachers of the following three schools, and was already integrated into their classes as the project continued.
• Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster in Berlin-Wilmersdorf
• Jüdische Oberschule in der Großen Hamburger Straße in Berlin-Mitte
• Schadow-Gymnasium in Berlin-Zehlendorf
