FILM AND EDUCATIONAL NETWORKING PROJECT
«WITNESSES: IN MEMORY OF THE HOLOCAUST»

The project aims at creating an educational programme around each of the novellas of the trilogy «Witnesses» and circulating it among teachers and students in Russia through networking cooperation.

Each of the short films is intended for students of a certain age based on its form and content, and their short running time allows to fit the screening and the accompanying lesson into one or two academic hours.


Stages of project implementation:


  • Together with experts, educators, psychologists and other various professionals we will develop educational programmes and lessons around each of the novellas of the trilogy. We will study «Shoes» with students aged 12 to 14, «Brutus» with students aged 15 to 16, and «Violin» with students aged 17 to 18.
  • We will create an online networking platform of the project on the «Witnesses» website, which will allow educators who studied our educational programme to stream the film, as well as access various teaching resources. This platform will become a space for networking and communication between Russian educators, as well as for further spreading our specially designed educational programme on Holocaust history.
  • The educational platform on the website will include the following sections:

    • The forum for educators and experts that will enable the exchange of information and practical recommendations.
    • A teaching package: video lessons for educators that lay out the methods for teaching the history of the Holocaust, general teaching guidelines and detailed lesson plans, as well as the trilogy «Witnesses» itself.
  • As part of the project, we will hold an essay competition among Russian educators centred around the question: Why do we need to study the history of the Holocaust in Russia? 30 winners will be invited to Moscow to participate in the educational conference «Witnesses: In Memory of the Holocaust».
  • Educational conference «Witnesses: In Memory of the Holocaust» will take place in Moscow from January 27 to January 29, and thus will be timed to coincide with the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. We will invite the winners of the competition and will cover the cost of their transfer and accommodation. Participants will study the educational programme «Witnesses: In Memory of the Holocaust» developed for students from grades 5 to 11, and will learn the method of organizing similar conferences for their colleagues across the country. All participants will gain access to the online platform of the project. They will also commit to teaching two lessons and holding no less than two conferences for teachers in their respective regions during that school year (the minimum number of further conference participants is 10 people).
  • Project launch in different regions in Russia:

    • Teachers will host educational conferences in different regions. Those conferences could be hosted as webinars on our online platform or offline with our support.
    • Teachers will also organize school lessons themed «Witnesses: In Memory of the Holocaust» for students from grades 5 to 11.
    • A number of student competitions will be held in schools centred around the topic «Tolerance lessons. In Memory of the Holocaust». Students from grades 5 to 6 will submit drawings, students from grades 7 to 9 – essays, and students from grades 10 to 11 will submit video projects. All entries will be uploaded onto the project’s online platform, where they will be evaluated and voted upon by teachers and experts.

Project experts:


  • Altman Ilya Aleksandrovich
  • Yamburg Evgeniy Aleksandrovich
  • Aleksandr Grigoryevich Asmolov
  • Zitser Vadim Semenovich
  • Libkin Mikhail Arkadyevich