The commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust is not only a historical moment. It is also a human value that should be developed and passed on from generation to generation. Each year the educational institutions in Moldova are encouraged to carry out different activities to educate tolerance and fight stereotypes.
“It is very important for the current students, children, starting from the family, kindergarten, school, to realize the value of respect for cultural, ethnic and religious diversity. We speak about basic human values that should be developed as swiftly as possible as this is very important,” Daniela Munca-Aftenev, head of the nongovernmental organization “Academy for Innovation and Exchange through Education” (AICE), stated in a news conference at IPN.
She noted that the Memory Week is held from 23 to 31 January and a series of activities were planned to be carried out in all the educational institutions in Chisinau in the period. There will be staged roundtable meetings, conferences, seminars and other information and awareness-raising events centering on the Holocaust. On the website of the Ministry of Education and Research, teachers will find the curriculum of the optional subject “Holocaust: History and Life Lessons” that can serve as a starting point for conducting different activities.
Also, there are a lot of fiction and nonfiction books that can be discussed in the Romanian language and literature lessons. “We aim to educate a generation that would realize the value of cultural, ethnic, religious diversity. We also want to sensitize the students to prejudice and injustice, to promote tolerance and fight racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance and violence,” said Daniela Munca-Aftenev.
Director of the Jewish Community in Moldova Aliona Grossu said the activities organized as part of the Memory Week generate more than a recollection. They contribute to forming the generation, to prompting culture, mutual respect, cooperation between different ethnic groups and confessional communities.
Ian Feldman, chairman of the Council for Preventing and Eliminating Discrimination and Ensuring Equality of the Republic of Moldova, said that January 27 is a tragic recollection showing what prejudice and stereotypes of minority groups can lead to, what horrors humanity can see when hatred persists in society and is not stopped. The Holocaust is the greatest genocide witnessed on earth so far. For this not to happen again, the people should remember that tragic page in history and should prevent events that can have such consequences. “We, as a country, undertook to fight hate speech, discrimination, stereotypes referring to ethnic, linguistic minorities, to vulnerable groups,” noted Ian Feldman.
On January 27, at 1pm, a requiem meeting in memory of the victims of the Holocaust will be held at the Memorial “Victims of Fascism” in Chisinau. International Holocaust Remembrance Day is celebrated on January 27.
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