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Auschwitz Memorial on-line lesson in four new languages
The on-line lesson “Auschwitz — Concentration and Extermination Camp“, which focuses on the most important topics in the history of this Nazi German camp, has been translated into four new languages: Arabic, Persian, Portuguese and Spanish. The Auschwitz Memorial is a pioneer of e-learning in institutions of this kind in Europe. The lesson is already avaiable in Polish and English.
GO TO THE LESSONS: ARABIC, PERSIAN, PORTUGUESE AND SPANISH
In a comprehensive compendium of knowledge concerning basic issues of Auschwitz camp’s history not only can one find a historical lecture on the most important facts and dates, but also many text, audio and video testimonies of former prisoners with modern and historical pictures added. “E-learning form of the lesson lets us prepare special multimedia maps, diagrams and exercises, all of which create a very wide and useful tool for self-learning, which can be also used, e.g. for preparations to visit the authentic Memorial site” – says Agnieszka Juskowiak-Sawicka, head of the E-learning at the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust.
The choice of further languages to which the lessons are translated is related to i.a. the analysis of attendance, however it is not the most important criterion considered: - The Spanish are one of the biggest groups visiting the Auschwitz Memorial. Last year more than 52 thousand of them came here. Spanish and Portuguese translations are most of all an attempt to reach people living in Latin America, who, for objective reasons, face difficulties visiting Poland – explains Andrzej Kacorzyk, director of the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust.
In his opinion, translating the lessons to Arabic and Persian was caused by different reasons: “In terms of the number of visitors, Arabic countries and Iran hardly exist in our statistics. At the same time we realize, that it is there, where the history of the Holocaust is very often presented in an inaccurate way, or even negated and used in politics” – pointed Kacorzyk. ”In my opinion young people, who do not speak English, should be able to gain solid knowledge and read about Auschwitz in their native languages and the Internet is perfect for it” – he added.
The authors of the lesson are specialists from the Research Center of the Museum: Dr. Jacek Lachendro and Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz. “We strived to show complicated history of Auschwitz Nazi German concentration camp, which, in the course of time, has become an enormous complex of camps and facilities built for the sole purpose of immediate extermination of Jews” – says director of the Research Department, Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz.
The whole lesson is divided into two parts. “The first one concerns Auschwitz as a concentration camp – its foundation, development, activity and various groups of its prisoners. Among concerned subjects there are i.a. food and clothing, housing, work in the camp, punishments, executions and pseudo-medical experiments” – says Agnieszka Juskowiak-Sawicka. “The second one concerns Holocaust of Jews in Auschwitz. It is divided to more than ten chapters not only about creation and operation of gas chambers and crematories but also Sonderkommando prisoners, concealing crimes, bombarding the camp and the number of victims – she adds.
Lessons were translated by:
Kinga Nogacka – Arabic version
Jarek Mensfelt – Spanish version
Mirosław Michalak,
Ivonna Nowicka (Daughter of the former Auschwitz prisoner no. 47016) – Persian version
Teresa Odlanicka-Poczobutt – Portuguese version
