AUSCHWITZ SEMINAR
TOUR
Visit our new website at: holocaustpartnership.eu Holocaust Memorial Partnership has an exclusive right to all educational materials regarding the Auschwitz Virtual Tour
Or contact directly at: jerzy.tomasz.wojcik [@] gmail.com
Each seminar/session can be performed separately or in the package...
The Auschwitz Virtual Tour entails regular online sessions about the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. But this is not a regular webinar or seminar. In fact, it is the most faithful representation of a physical visit to the Auschwitz memorial site. The delivery is significantly augmented by historical footage, histories of former prisoners, visualizations, aerial overviews, and contemporary filming. Thanks to the use of virtual reality tools officially created by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, we are able to reach every single spot and space at the memorial site.
I tell the story of Auschwitz live. The educator – I myself – is with you all the time. You can ask questions; you can dialogue with me. The virtual tour is planned for a maximum of 40 people in one session. It will not be recorded or made public. It will not be done in the form of a typical webinar where the participants, as a rule, cannot see each other and their interaction with the teacher is limited to a Q&A. I would like these sessions to be, in a sense, private, intimate meetings during which all participants can see each other in a virtual space, can ask questions and discuss important issues regarding Auschwitz.
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At heart, students are the primary target group of this project. Personally, I believe that teaching about the Holocaust should be a key aspect of teaching history. Therefore, we are prepared to conduct virtual tours for both adult university students and secondary school pupils, aged 15-18.
It is quite surprising, but, in the last 2-3 years, I have had a significant number of small, private groups from corporations and business circles. It is interesting that CEOs from corporations want their employees to be aware of these tragic events. We are ready to organize such a seminar for companies and corporations, taking into account the specific role of business and entrepreneurship during World War II.
Sessions do not require expensive equipment. In fact, what participants have to have is a computer (with a web camera and microphone) and an internet connection. However, in order to improve the quality of the connection, it is worth investing in a better, external camera as well as an external microphone. The Zoom platform is one of the easiest to operate. These days, practically everyone is using this software.
This is not a short session. Those who know me or who have visited Auschwitz Memorial with me as a guide know that it usually takes 4-5 hours. The Auschwitz Virtual Tour is planned to be divided into two parts: virtual visit at Auschwitz I (1:15), a 10-minute break, visiting Auschwitz II-Birkenau (1:15). In case of questions, I can extend the session, because we have no time limitation.
In the past, I have met a vast number of teachers with impressive knowledge. Many of them have wanted to learn even more about the history of Auschwitz. Working with teachers is extremely satisfying, though equally demanding. Continuing education requires a special program and specialized seminars which I hope to be able to commence in the first part of 2021.
We offer 2-3 hours virtual tour around Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial onsite in the place of your residence.
Hybrid Seminar & Tour The online sessions are not the only option. Hybrid works, too: the educator offline and in person presenting the virtual tour online. We believe that, for many students and professionals, an offline presentation on-site would also be an extremely interesting option. This would include: arrival of the educator to the school, company or institution with a live presentation of the virtual tour in front of the audience. In this scenario, the educator would still be using digital resources, but be physically meeting with the group in its chosen location. This is a much more intimate option and allows direct contact between the educator and the group.
The Auschwitz Seminar & Virtual Tour includes visiting practically entire area of Auschwitz-Birkenau complex as we have been organizing this so far. Please see our physical tours and activity pre-Covid-19 >>> www.memorialpartnership.pl
We are very flexible. We try to make our arrangements as simple as possible. I understand how important it is to adjust the program to a customer’s needs and expectations. The online session may be logistically easier to organize, but, for some people, the digital requirements may pose an obstacle not that easy to overcome. The Auschwitz Seminar organized on-site has several advantages and the most important is the direct contact between the educator and the audience - that closeness facilitates Q&A and dialogue. The rest of the presentation with its content remains the same as the online session format.
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AUSCHWITZ SEMINAR & VIRTUALTOUR
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Dr. Jerzy Wójcik Use e-mail form: icon at the bottom-right, contact directly or/and schedule the meeting on Zoom... e-mail: jerzy.wojcik@memorialpartnership.pl phone/whatsapp: +48 509705022 www.auschwitz.memorialpartnership.pl Youtube | Facebook | Twitter
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Jerzy Wójcik - born in the town of Oświęcim (Auschwitz), Poland. Graduate of the International Relations as well as Middle and Far East programs at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, he was, in 2010, awarded a PhD in political science. Recipient of scholarships from the Florentyna Kogutowska Fund at the Jagiellonian University and from the State of Israel as a Research Fellow at Tel Aviv University. For a number of years, he has been working with several organizations and institutions in Poland: among others, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, the Jagiellonian University Center for Holocaust Studies in Krakow, the Center for International Relations in Warsaw, and the European Association of Israel Studies. Since 2015 he runs the Holocaust Memorial Partnership. He has been to Israel over 20 times. |
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===================================================== What do I use for Virtual Tour? To be honest, I have built an entirely new digital infrastructure for the Auschwitz Virtual Tour. I have combined historical footage, individual stories of survivors, contemporary graphics technology, aerial and drone recordings. Prezi – the best (or one of the best) presentation software enables us to create a powerful, interactive presentation that proves to be extremely successful. Participants of our sessions so far have really appreciated the way the material has been collated and displayed.
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When the question is being asked, what would such an online Auschwitz Virtual Tour be like, I answer this way: “The Virtual Tour around Auschwitz is to be a faithful and precise representation of a physical visit to the Auschwitz Memorial Site. However, thanks to audiovisual techniques, we can significantly deepen this experience by using historical recordings and aerial videos. What is most important, however, is the fact that the educator (I myself) can, at any time, answer a student’s question and present a much deeper explanation. In this online system, the educator always works live with the students. The most important thing remains unchanged: The NARRATIVE. This is something that I have been doing for the last 15 years.”
Dr. Jerzy Wojcik===========================================================================
Historical footage
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During the liberation of Auschwitz, the Russians made a film showing the camp immediately after the liberation. We can see both the original barracks, the campgrounds, and the people who survived the terrible conditions. This is an incredible historical resource. Another important historical source is official photographs by the Nazis themselves. The so-called “Auschwitz Album” is a collection of photos taken in 1944 for documentation purposes. After the war, this entire collection was found by a little girl, Lili Jacob-Meyer, who found them completely by accident in another camp, at Dora-Mittelbau. The third, extremely important visual source is unofficial photos taken by members of the Sonderkommando, i.e. prisoners responsible for the cremation of the bodies. Thanks to a confiscated camera, it was possible to take several photos of burning corpses in a corner of Birkenau as well as of Jewish women waiting for death in the gas chamber. These photos have survived and are an invaluable source of what happened in the Auschwitz camp. |
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The mission of the Holocaust Memorial Partnership has not changed over the years. "A visit to Auschwitz is for many people a very emotional experience. One of our priorities is to make every effort to ensure that each visit runs in a harmonious way and becomes a form of commemoration. Because Auschwitz is a lesson for all of us—the lesson that even democratic systems, under certain circumstances, can turn toward authoritarian rule, and that even the most civilized societies can turn towards brutal and populist solutions. As Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." In the current situation, in which Europe enters the era of rising nationalism, the lesson from Auschwitz should be very explicit and visible." Please see the other website of Holocaust Memorial Partnership and commemoration tours that we carried out so far. >>> |
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