Pillar of Fire – from Auschwitz to Casablanca
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2021.1.390.412Keywords:
Holocaust, North Africa, monument, Poland, education, remembranceAbstract
Aim. This study examines the characteristics of the individuals who go on the journey to Poland, which is a key element of the Holocaust education curriculum in Israel, their personal connection to the Holocaust, as well as the socio-political developments in Israel that attempt to bridge the gap between the various poles in society – between East and West.
Concept. Holocaust education includes the formal part, which is the historical narrative, and the informal part, which is the journey to Poland. This study follows the development of Holocaust education and commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust – from the narrative of the Holocaust of the Jews of Europe to the narrative of the Holocaust among the communities of North African descent.
Results and conclusion. The findings of the study indicate a link between family support and ties to the Holocaust, and the journey to Poland, which appears to be in line with findings of Nitza Davidovitch and Dan Soen (2011), who found a correlation between the students participating in the journey and their personal connections to the Holocaust, in contrast to students with no family connection with the Holocaust. For all its importance, the journey to Poland has been found to perpetuate social polarisation.
Practical applications. The current study highlights the challenge of Holocaust education in order to build a bridge of shared historical destiny through this seminal event of the twentieth century.
Originality. This work sparks the question of how to make the journey to Poland a unifying factor in collective national memory.
Downloads
References
Abitbul, M. (1986). Yehudei Algeria, Tunisia Vi’morocco 1940-1943 [Jews of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco 1940-1943]. Pe'amim: Studies in Oriental Jewry, 28, 78-106.
Appelfeld, A. (1997). Interview with Michal Sternin and Merav Janno at Yad Vashem. Retrieved March 14, 2021, from https://www.yadvashem.org/he/articles/interviews/aharon-appelfeld.html.
Bar Zohar, M. (1975). Ben Gurion: Ha’Ish Meahorei Ha’Agada – Biograpfia, Kerech Aleph. [Ben Gurion: The man behind the legend – A biography, Vol. A]. Tel Aviv: Am Oved.
Bernhard, P. (2012). Behind the battle lines: Italian atrocities and the persecution of Arabs, Berbers, and Jews in North Africa during World War II. Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 26(3), 425-446.
Biton Committee for the Empowerment of the Legacy of Sephardic and Eastern Jewry in the Educational System (2016). Duach Vaadat Biton Li’haatzamat Hamoreshet Shel Yahadut Sepharad Vi’hamizrach Bamaarechet Hahinuch [Report of the Biton Committee for the Empowerment of the Legacy of Sephardic and Eastern Jewry in the Educational System]. Retrieved March 1, 2021, from: https://edu.gov.il/owlHeb/Tichon/RefurmotHinoch/Documents/bitonreport.pdf.
Brutin, B. (2005). Hayim Im Zikaron–Andartaot La’Shoah BIYisrael [Living with memory – Monuments to the Holocaust in Israel]. Ghetto Fighters Museum. [Hebrew].
Davidovitch, N., & Soen, D. (2011). Masaot Mitbagrim Lpolania: BaadVi’neged [Teenagers’ journeys to Poland: Pros and cons]. In N. Davidovitch & D. Soen (Eds.), Zikaron Hashoah Nosim Vi’etgartim [Holocaust remembrance issues and challenges] (pp. 76-99). Ariel: Ariel University Center.
Davidovitch, N., & Soen, D. (Eds.). (2015). Li’Gay Hatzalmevet: Nisayon Hashoah Mi’Perspectikva Rav-Thumit [To the valley of the shadow of death: The Holocaust experience from a multidisciplinary perspective]. Tel Aviv: Resling.
Dinur, B. Z. (K. Zetnik), (1986). Hadashot Yad Ve’Shem [Yad Vashem News]. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem.
Don-Yehia, E. (1993) Memory and political culture: Israeli society and Holocaust. Study in Contemporary Jewry, 9, 139-162.
Dorot, R. (2015). A1380. In N. Davidovitch & D. Soen (Eds.), Shoa and experience (pp. 81-135).Tel Aviv: Academic Studies Press.
Dorot, R. (2015). Between the political and the poetic: Holocaust monuments. In N. Davidovitch & D. Soen (Eds.), Li’Gay Hatzalmevet: Nisayon Hashoah Mi’Perspectikva Rav-Thumit [To the valley of the shadow of death: The Holocaust experience from a multidisciplinary perspective] (pp. 295-339). Tel Aviv: Resling.
Feldman, J. (2008). Above the death pits, beneath the flag: Youth voyages to Poland and the performance of Israeli national identity. Berghahn Books: New York.
Gan, A. (2015). Hakravatam hi Omanutam: Mi’ SiachKorbaniLi’SiachMamlachti [Their sacrifice is their art: From a sacrificial discourse to a sovereign discourse]. Jerusalem: The Israel Democracy Institute.
Genio, R. (1999). Yehudei Maarav Afrika Hatzarfatit Bi’Tkufat Vishy [Jews of French West Africa during the Vichy period]. Pe'amim: Studies in Oriental Jewry, 81, 56-67.
Haskel, A., Davidovitch, N., & Soen, D. (2011). IDF delegations to Poland: Education for values or indoctrination. In: N. Davidovitch & D. Soen (Eds.), Zikaron Hashoah Nosim Vi’etgartim [Holocaust remembrance issues and challenges] (pp. 155-176). Ariel: Ariel University Center. Retrieved March 1, 2021, from https://www.academy.ac.il/Index3/Entry.aspx?nodeId=769&entryId=21078.
Jablonka, H. (2008). Rahok Mipasei Harakevet: Yehudim Mizrahiim Vehashoah [Far from the railroad track: Mizrahi Jews and the Holocaust]. Tel Aviv and Be’erSheva: YediothAhronoth and Ben-Gurion University.
Kesner, Y., & Ronen, Y. (2009). Hazikaron Adayin Politi: Al Hadkahat Hamahteret B’Algeria Bi’1942, Mi’Diyun Akademi – Tguva Li’Ktav Haet Peamim 114-115 [The memory is still political: On the repression of the Jewish underground in Algeria in 1942 from the academic debate — a response to the periodical Pe’amim 114-115]. Pe'amim: Studies in Oriental Jewry, 114-115, 155-158.
Kimhi, R. (2019, May 5). Hashoah Shel YahadutZfon Afrika? [The Holocaust of North African Jewry?], Haaretz. Retrieved from https://www.haaretz.co.il/misc/article-print-page/.premium-1.7206290.
Kizel, A. (2013). Ha’Etgarim Hafilosofiim Vi’Hahinuhiim Shel Hanarative Hamizrahi Hehadash Bi’Yisrael: Hebetim Bikortiyim [The philosophical and educational challenges of the new Mizrahi narrative in Israel: Critical aspects]. Ktav Et Benleumi Al MehkarHinuch Yehudi, 5-6, 1-22.
Porat, D. (2006). Gvanim Shel Hashoah: Siach Hasdhoach Vi’Mered Bi’Kerev Noaryisraeli [Shades of the Holocaust: Holocaust discourse and rebellion among Israeli youth]. Israel, 9, 175-199.
Romi, S., & Lev, M. (2003). Noar Yisraeli Vi’Hashoah: Yeda, Regashot, Vi’Emdot Laahra Masa Li’Polin [Israeli youth and the Holocaust: Knowledge, emotions, and attitudes following a journey to Poland]. Megamot, 42(2), 219-239.
Shimoni, B. (2010). Shtei Nekudot Mabat al Sifra Shel Hannah Yablonka “Rahok Mipasei Harakevet: Yehudim Mizrahiim Vehashoah” [Two perspectives on Hannah Jablonka’s book “Far from the Railroad: The Mizrahi Jews and the Holocaust”], Sotziologiya Yisraelit [Israeli Sociology], 12, 228-230.
Silver, C. (2019). The Holocaust and North Africa. Arab Studies Journal, 27(2), 151-155.
Simon, R. (1986). Yehudei Luv Al Saf Hashoah [Libyan Jews on the brink of the Holocaust]. Pe'amim: Studies in Oriental Jewry, 28, 47-77.
Steyer-Livni, L. (2014). Har Hazikaron Yizkor Bimkomi: Hazikaron Hehadash Shel Hashoah Bi’Tarbut Popularitbi’ Yisraelk [The mountain of remembrance will remember in my place: The new memory of the Holocaust in popular culture in Israel].Tel Aviv: Resling.
The Israeli National Academy of Sciences (2020). Status report on Holocaust studies at research universities and colleges in Israel. Retrieved March 1, 2021, from: https://www.academy.ac.il/Index3/Entry.aspx?nodeId=769&entryId=21078.
Svetlova, K. (2018, December 4). Speech by MK Svetlovaon the occasion of the memorial daymarking the expulsion and departure of the Jews of Arab countries and Islam [Video]. Retrieved March 1, 2021, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJqoHX4Frdo.
Tilovich-Levy, S. (2017). Hamasa Li’Polin Shel Anashim Im Mugbalut Sehlit Hitpathutit – Mishlahat Shachar [The journey to Poland of people with intellectual developmental disabilities – The Shahar Delegation]. Unpublished master’s degree, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. Retrieved March 1, 2021, from: https://www.yadvashem.org/he.html.
Yad Vashem. (2008, April 28). First international conference of its kind on North Africa and its Jews during WWII. [Hebrew] .https://www.yadvashem.org/he/press-release/28-april-2008-13-38.html.
Young, J. E. (1993). The texture of memory. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Zandberg, A. (2008). “Dachau? ZeMeeverLa’Pina: TarbutPopularit, Humor, Vi’ZuikaronHashoah [“Dachau? It’s here around the corner”: Popular culture, humour and memory of the Holocaust]. Media Frameworks – Israeli Journal of Communication, 2, 86-106.
Zandberg, E. (2006). Critical laughter: humor, popular culture and Israeli Holocaust commemoration. Media, Culture & Society, 28(4), 561-579.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Nitza Davidovitch, Ruth Dort
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
CC-BY
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. All authors agree for publishing their email adresses, affiliations and short bio statements with their articles during the submission process.
