Wroclaw and Falstad Will Not Forget! Polish and Norwegian Standpoint on Totalitarianisms. Educational, Research, Exhibition, Publishing and Popularizing Activities about the Different Experiences of Wroclaw and Falstad of the Nazi and Stalinist Totalitari

Project facts

Project promoter:
History Centre Zajezdnia, Wrocław(PL)
Project Number:
PL-CULTURE-0039
Status:
Completed
Final project cost:
€286,525
Donor Project Partners:
Falstad Centre(NO)
Other Project Partners
‘Lower Silesian Family of Katyn’ Association in Wroclaw(PL)
Association of Siberian Deportees Branch Wroclaw(PL)
Oder-Neman Association(PL)
Siberian Deportees Remembrance Association(PL)
Silesian Genealogical Society in Wroclaw(PL)
The Association of the Polish Victims of the Third Reich
Branch in Wroclaw(PL)
Warsaw Province Religious House of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redemptor in Wroclaw(PL)
Wroclaw Lovers Association(PL)
Programme:

Description

OBJECTIVE: The goal of the project is to organize a number of events in order to show the historical truth about victims of totalitarianism.

EVENTS: The project will consist of the following components:

  • The first component of the project will consist in the preparation of the exhibition "Golgotha of the East" on the site of the existing Memorial Chamber.
  • The second component - "Wroclaw remembers" - will be based on workshops organized for NGOs with a view to develop a model of events and activities.
  • The third component - research and publishing activities.
  • The fourth component is to develop a mobile application "Wroclaw remembers". Based on the success of the award-winning "Being Polish in Breslau" application, as well as on the basis of research work, a modern tool will be developed with a view to allow virtual (though mapped to paths existing in reality) exploration of places of remembrance of persons deported to Siberia, people repressed by the Third Reich, the pre-war Polish community in Wroclaw, and other thematically similar groups. The target group will be expanded to include English and German language audience.
  • The component "I tell about Wroclaw" will invite Witnesses of History to participate in workshops on their ability to speak out, especially on aspects of their traumatic experiences.
  • The component "Wroclaw cemeteries - the city memory" will include: archival queries and field research; drawing up the register of resting places of famous or distinguished persons and veterans (according to the adopted methodological assumptions); development of a dedicated website with a multifunctional multi-search engine for graves and information about the deceased; preparation of biographies of persons included in the register and collection of iconographic material; proposals of sightseeing ...

Summary of project results

For decades after World War II, the society of Wrocław and Poland could not freely express their concern for heritagecultural and national. Currently, we have the last historical chance to meet witnesses of events related to the regimestotalitarians of the 20th century, whom we call Witnesses of History.The center came into possession of an extraordinary collection of souvenirs, documents and photographs related to deportations to Siberia and the fate ofSiberians. With great dedication and care, in the 1990s they organized the Chamber of Remembrance with a collection of over 400exhibits. These collections require proper and urgent protection and re-accessibility in a modern forma narrative exhibition with elements of museum exhibits.

  • The first component of the project  consisted in the preparation of the exhibition "Golgotha of the East" on the site of the existing Memorial Chamber.
  • The second component - "Wroclaw remembers" - was based on workshops organized for NGOs with a view to develop a model of events and activities.
  • The third component - research and publishing activities.
  • The fourth component was to develop a mobile application "Wroclaw remembers". Based on the success of the award-winning "Being Polish in Breslau" application, as well as on the basis of research work, a modern tool was developed with a view to allow virtual (though mapped to paths existing in reality) exploration of places of remembrance of persons deported to Siberia, people repressed by the Third Reich, the pre-war Polish community in Wroclaw, and other thematically similar groups. The target group was expanded to include English and German language audience.
  • The component "I tell about Wroclaw"  invite Witnesses of History to participate in workshops on their ability to speak out, especially on aspects of their traumatic experiences.
  • The component "Wroclaw cemeteries - the city memory" included: archival queries and field research; drawing up the register of resting places of famous or distinguished persons and veterans (according to the adopted methodological assumptions); development of a dedicated website with a multifunctional multi-search engine for graves and information about the deceased; preparation of biographies of persons included in the register and collection of iconographic material; proposals of sightseeing ...

Throughout the entire project period, the assumptions building attendance at events and developing partnerships were consistently implemented. It''s been postponedThis resulted in a very large number of participants in events commemorating the victims of regimes, more than four times the intended numbertotalitarian. Each event had a well-developed audience, primarily from the circles of witnesses of history andWrocław schools. In the last months of the project, numerous activities were undertaken as part of audience developmentaimed at promoting the exhibition, activating residents, and conducting cultural and civic education. In this respectthe following activities were carried out in August-September: developing a script for the series "Siberian Tracks", showing traces ofSiberian activities, visible in today''s Wrocław; two episodes of "Syberian Tracks" were recorded (in cooperation with WrocławskiZOO and Botanical Garden in Wrocław) and then published on the ZOO website and Facebook page of Golgota East;a video was created as an advertisement for the educational game "The Great Escape"; a new part of the exhibition "CommemorationsKatyn” in the form of an information board and animation; "Siberian Day" celebrations were organized (with live coverage on TV and Radio) ipromotion of the book "Sybiracke Signs of Remembrance in Wrocław". A performance was also organized at the exhibition as part of the "Nationalreadings” with the participation of actors and famous Wrocław personalities. In order to collect feedback from the audience, carried outthere was a survey regarding brand recognition and the source from which visitors learned about the exhibition.

Summary of bilateral results

The Norwegian partner - Centrum Falstad - organized a study visit to Norway for 11 people from the Project Team. (workshops, tours, discussion panels); completed the workresearch on Polish prisoners in Falstad and created an educational tool regarding Polish-Norwegian threads in the Falstad camp. Thanks to visits by specialists from Falstad in Poland, he made it possibleexchange of experiences and sharing knowledge in the field of running cultural institutions and educational methods, mainly in the aspect of transmitting difficult history to young people and children.

Information on the projects funded by the EEA and Norway Grants is provided by the Programme and Fund Operators in the Beneficiary States, who are responsible for the completeness and accuracy of this information.