The organizers of the Festival of Tolerance have recognized that care for the young is the most significant segment in the development of a democratic society, especially at present time when we witness a rise in violence among the young, discrimination, social injustice, between peers and towards individuals of different nationality, religion or race. This prompted us to initiate a new educational programme in 2009 called Educational mornings.
Together with the students, Holocaust survivors talk about the injustices committed by the Nazi regime and in turn stimulate an open dialogue and an appeal for the cooperation of cultural, educational and government institutions. Through discussion and exchange of opinions the young come to understand that accepting diversity and respecting differences is the only way to contribute to living in the modern world.
Since 2009 more than 22,000 students have participated in the programme called Educational Mornings. It is a programme that is active throughout the year by virtue of several workshops and projects. The programme has been presented almost 70 times in 16 Croatian cities, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Austria, which hardly any other institution in Croatia that educates the public about the Holocaust can boast.
By introducing film and media as a platform for education, each year we select a feature film or documentary with a high artistic and educational value. The reason why we choose this medium of educations is for the youth to effortlessly expand their knowledge of the Holocaust in a manner that they can quickly understand.
12th edition of the Festival brings two Educational Mornings: the guest of first one is Dr. Lucja Piekarska-Duraj, who will hold the lecture "The beauty (of the past) and the beast (of the present) in contemporary film projects", and the second one at which the audience will have an opportunity to hear a testimony of Holocaust survivors Branko Lustig and Dan Dragutin Bar-Sela.
Educational Mornings booklet is available here.
Through life experience of survivors the youth is given a personal experience of atrocities of the Holocaust in order to help them learn more of this tragic period of world history so they could better comprehend the need of excepting diversities and treating each human being as an individual worthy of respect. Educational Mornings teach young people how to, loud and clear, say „Never again!“
In her presentation, after referring to the film she will examine some dangers of beautifying the past and their effects for the historical storytelling. The real question, however lies not in the „reality” of the past, but in the present attempts to interpret it.