GENERATIONS OF THE SHOAH IN ARGENTINA
“Whoever listens to a witness, becomes a witness”. Elie Wiesel.
PROJECT APPRENTICE is a living chain of oral testimonies, brought to life by those who have had personal contact with Shoah survivors. They have been bestowed with the legacy of retelling the story. This is a shared journey between a young adult – the APPRENTICE – and a survivor – the SURVIVOR. Along this path, the SURVIVORS transmits their experience and memories, who they had been and had become, and the Apprentice incorporates this story in its essence, and is committed to transmitting it orally for decades to come.
Fundamentals and objectives:
PROJECT APPRENTICE was born out of an awareness of the power of oral testimony. The story told by the protagonist, the eyewitness, reaches deeper layers of the listener´s soul and remains unforgettable. The passage of time risks leaving future generations without this vital source. So it is essential that we create a way in which the memory of the Shoah can be preserved through the power of oral testimony.
With our teaching experience, we have learned that educating people about the Shoah ought to include emotional, particular and personal aspects in order to make the lessons lasting and effective. These personal stories help us to understand and identify the impact of these historical events on us as human beings. Facts can be remembered when linked with emotions: oral testimonies make possible the preservation of these very real events in our memory.
The main goal of the Project is to preserve the power of the oral testimony so it can reach wider audiences for many years to come. Whenever a survivor stands in front of an audience, there is a change of energy, a strong power is given by his or her words and emotions: To see and listen to a witness renders this person’s history, and therefore the Shoah, a living reality.
PROJECT APPRENTICE has two additional objectives:
a) It aims to make it possible to educate future generations about the Shoah with the power provided by oral testimonies; each APPRENTICE will glean from the direct source what the written materials cannot provide;
b) It aims to activate a way to combat anti-Semitism and denial of the Shoah by giving non-Jews access to the lived experience through direct contact with the protagonist –either as listeners or as future APPRENTICES.
Implementation:
In PROJECT APPRENTICE a young adult – the APPRENTICE – gets in touch with a Shoah survivor –the SURVIVOR-, meets and interacts with him or her, becomes familiar with the survivor’s life and conditions, their particular way of speaking and thinking, learns about childhood and aging and takes from this relationship what distinguishes this individual from others, all that makes the survivor unique. The APPRENTICE also gets to know the survivor’s surroundings, belongings, documents and photographs, in order to become this individual’s voice and tell the story while keeping it alive and vibrant. The APPRENTICE learns and adopts both the lyrics and the melody of the SURVIVOR’s life and persona. This immersion in their soul allows a profound comprehension and identification that will permit the future re-invoicing and personification of each particular story for several decades into the future.
The APPRENTICE registers the entire experience in a diary, a sort of travel log. This will be the memory both of the survivor´s life and persona as well as of the experience and the process of reception and interaction.
The APPRENTICES are assisted throughout the process by experts in survivor testimonies who help when any question or uncomfortable issue arises. They receive a seminar about the essential topics related to the Shoah so that the contact with survivors can be put in the proper historical and political context. The SURVIVORS, are assisted by a coordinator who responds to any request that might arise during the experience. The overall coordination is in the hands of Generations of the Shoah in Argentina.
The Project is presented at different venues, encouraging APPRENTICES of diverse backgrounds to embrace the experience with an emphasis on encouraging the participation of non-Jews. The experience is open at multiple levels, in order for all to learn and transmit the lessons of the Shoah and all that is historically, socially, philosophically and humanly connected to it.