REPORT Holocaust education and intercultural understanding in South-East Europe: renewing the Ex-Yugoslav Pavilion in Auschwitz-Birkenau Fifth meeting of the international steering group Z a g r e b, 6-7 F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 A meeting organized within the initiative
This report summarises the discussions held during the meeting related to the project Holocaust education and intercultural understanding in South-East Europe: renewing the Ex-Yugoslav Pavilion in Auschwitz-Birkenau, organized in Zagreb, Croatia, on 6-7 February 2014 by the Ministry of Culture of Croatia, with the support of the National Commission of Croatia for UNESCO and the UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Culture in Europe (Venice) Office, within the framework of UNESCO s Intersectoral Platform for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence. This fifth meeting of the international steering group set up in 2012 was organized to continue discussions on the renovation and refurbishment of the former Yugoslav pavilion - block No. 17, located within the State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland, and on the setting up of a joint exhibition on the Holocaust. Participating experts were representing Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. International institutions participating were the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism, UNESCO, the Mémorial de la Shoah (France) and the Topography of Terror (Germany). The representatives of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and of the State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau could not attend.
Ms Tamara Perisic, Assistant Minister of Culture of Croatia, welcomed the participants and reiterated the commitment of the Croatian authorities towards this project. Véronique Dauge, Head of Culture Unit of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe (Venice), thanked the Croatian authorities for their hospitality and the participants for joining. She recalled the achievements of the project so far, notably the progress in uploading most of the items selected on the web-dropbox designed by the UNESCO Venice Office. An overall Chronology of the project was presented by Ms Nataša Mataušić, Croatian History Museum, allowing to remind all the participants about the background of their presence. The discussions focused on two main topics: Renovation of the pavilion The representative of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism gave a thorough update of the on-going negotiations with the Auschwitz Birkenau State Museum. In summary, the time table of works has been delayed for various reasons and the actual renovation works will not start before May 2015. The Austrian Fund envisages the opening of the Austrian exhibition in Summer 2016. Therefore, the initial objective to open the exhibition in January 2015 for the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz is not reachable anymore and the new calendar needs to be established. As regards the cost sharing, it was reiterated that the Austria National Fund was providing an advance payment for the work and that the successor States were to negotiate directly with the Auschwitz Museum the amounts to be reimbursed. It is expected that the overall cost of the renovation of the building should be around 1.2 million Euro (1.5 is the average for other buildings). It is necessary to negotiate with the State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Austria which amount of the overall cost has to be paid by whom. In addition, an amount of 200,000 to 300,000 Euro should be foreseen for the designing and installing of the exhibition and is to be financed by the six states which cooperate in this project. Further running costs will also need to be considered. Of course, these are not final figures, and taxes may also need to be included. It is recommended that the Ministries of Culture of the concerned States coordinate rapidly their contact with the Auschwitz Museum to discuss this issue. It is also recommended that they foresee, as early as possible and without waiting for the final quotations, to include the cost of the renovation and of the exhibition in their national budgets on the basis of the available estimates. Content and design of the exhibition Each delegation presented an update of the research regarding selected items corresponding to each chapter of the exhibition. It appears that most of the material is now available. It is foreseen that the remaining items will be uploaded on the drop-box by the end of February. The UNESCO Venice Office
would then transform the information into pdf files easily readable and transmit them to the members of the Drafting Group for review. In Auschwitz, the compulsory languages of the exhibitions captions are English and Polish. It is therefore recommended to prepare all the texts and captions in English. Some discussions also took place regarding the possibility to reuse some of the exhibits of the previous Yugoslav pavilion exhibition, such as the sculptures of Vida Jocić. This has to be discussed directly with the Museum as the rule is to present only items directly related to Auschwitz. It is suggested that the Drafting Group meets in Belgrade by the end of May 2014 to review the documents to be included in the exhibition. The final choice will be made in September at the next meeting of the Steering Group foreseen to take place in Ljubljana.
As already expressed during the visits at Auschwitz Museum in July 2013, it is generally agreed that exhibitions using too much multimedia technology (Hungarian pavilion) were not easily manageable, involving too much maintenance work and related-costs, and being quickly outdated, or that those presenting too prolific information were not successful in achieving their pedagogical goals. Hereunder the positive elements noted at that occasion are reiterated for reference: Important space given to the life of Jewish communities before the Holocaust (Israel) Impact of news, filmed speeches and programmatic contents (Israel) In terms of the historical information presented, a minimalistic and pragmatic approach is recommended (France, Israel, Netherlands) The intertwining of individual destinies with the general context conveyed a strong impression (France) Importance of maps focusing on Auschwitz but including also other sites of persecution The spaces dedicated to the commemoration of victims was praised in both the French and the Israeli exhibitions The terms of reference and tender documents need to be prepared in the near future, i.e. not later that the end of 2014, so as to move forward in parallel to the renovation work. Close coordination between the Steering Group and the selected designer/scenographer will need to be ensured and, considering the multipartnership, this will entail several consultations. The design and scenario will need to be submitted for approval to the Auschwitz Museum, thus entailing some delays in the decision-making process. A coordinator will also be needed to follow-up the design and exhibition preparation work. It has been agreed that the Drafting Group was in the best position to this end. It is also important to be in contact with the architect in charge of the renovation so that the concept design be elaborated in compliance with the architectural work (electricity notably). It is to be noted that it is crucial to identify rapidly the modalities both for launching the tender and for reviewing it, and further to finance the implementation of the work. To this end, a decision is to be taken by the Member States concerned as regards the appropriate mechanism.
SCHEDULE AND DEADLINES WHAT DEADLINE WHO Filling the drop box 28 February 2014 Steering Group Consolidation of content (incl. selection of materials) To be drafted in English Adoption of consolidated content Texts submitted by E-mail end of May Submission of scenario to Auschwitz Museum Budget discussion (incl. direct discussion with Auschwitz State Museum) UNESCO provides estimates of costs for other recent exhibitions Renovation costs; Running costs; Exhibition design and installation (detailed plan provided by Austrian fund in October 2014; estimates in mid-2014 subject to changes) Signature of a letter of agreement (Creation of a joint fund for the exhibition? One country responsible?) Design Drafting of Terms of Reference/concept note by the Drafting Group Opening the tender Selection of a contractor Establishing/hiring of a coordination unit May 2014 Meeting of the Drafting Group (and possibly UNESCO) in Belgrade September 2014 Ljubljana Meeting of the Steering Group hosted by the Ministry of Culture of Slovenia September 2014 September 2014 Ljubljana Drafting Group Steering Group Ministries of Culture Steering Group
AGENDA OF THE MEETING W e d n e s d a y 5 F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 Arrival of participants, transfer to the Hotel T h u r s d a y 6 F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 8h30 Departure from the Hotel to the location of the meeting 9h00-9h30 9h30-13h00 Opening Representative of the Ministry of Culture/Croatian Commission for UNESCO Ms Veronique Dauge, Head of Culture Unit, UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, Venice Session 1 - moderated by Ms Rajka Bućin, Croatian State Archives Information from the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for the meeting of the successor states to the former Yugoslavia regarding the finances and the renovation of Block 17 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, Mr Walter Amtmann, National Fund for the Victims of the National Socialism Brief Chronology, power point presentation, Ms Nataša Mataušić, Croatian History Museum Review of the selected items corresponding to each chapter of the exhibition by representatives from each country (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) 11h00-11h30 Coffee break Discussion 13h30-14h30 Buffet-Lunch (Venue: Mimara Museum) 14h30-15h00 15h00-18h00 Mimara Museum Optional Tour Session 2 - moderated by Mr Karel Francapane, UNESCO Section of Education for Peace and Human Rights and Rut Carek, Secretary General, Croatian Commission for UNESCO Designing the joint exhibit space discussion on criteria
Preparations for the future exhibition space: schedule and plan of work for Block 17 and requirements for the Ex-Yugoslav exhibition space Discussion and adoption of plan of work for 2014 16h30-17h00 Coffee break 17h00-18h00 18h00 20h30 Conclusions of the Meeting Departure to the Hotel Dinner for participants-vinodol restaurant F r i d a y 7 F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 9h00 Departure from Hotel Study Visit to the Jasenovac Memorial Site 10h00 Welcoming speech, Ms Nataša Jovičić, Director of the Jasenovac Memorial Site 10h15-12h00 Expert guidance on the Memorial Museum Jasenovac and Memorial Site - Curators: Ms Maja Kućan, Ms Ines Sogonić, Mr Ivo Pejaković and Mr Đorđe Mihovilović 12h00 Coffee Break with discussion in Educational Center 13h30-15h00 Lunch for participants-ribič restaurant 15h00 Departure for Zagreb 16h30 Arrival in Zagreb S a t u r d a y 8 F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 Departure of participants and transfer to the airport
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS N COUNTRY NAME INSTITUTION/POSITION 1 Bosnia and Herzegovina EliasTauber 2 Bosnia and Herzegovina Enes Milak Jewish Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Advisor for Culture Museum of the Second AVNOJ Session in Jajce, Director 3 Bosnia and Herzegovina DragoTrninić Museum of Republic of Srpska, Museum Advisor 4 Croatia Goran Blagus Ministry of Culture Directorate for Performing, Visual Arts, Museum and Archival Activities 5 Croatia Nataša Mataušić Croatian History Museum 6 Croatia Rut Carek Croatian Commission for UNESCO, Secretary-General 8 Montenegro Miloš Vukanović Historical Museum of Montenegro, Curator 9 Slovenia Matic Zupan Advisor, Minister's Private Office, Ministry of Culture 10 Slovenia Nada Zoran Advisor, Directorate for Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture 11 Slovenia Kaja Širok Museum of Contemporary history, Director 12 13 The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Todor Chepreganov Marica Jovanovska 14 France Olivier Lalieu Researcher, Institute of National History Curator, History Department, Museum of Macedonia Mémorial de la Shoah, Responsible for the Management of places of remembrance and external projects 15 Germany Thomas Lutz Topography of Terror Foundation 16 Serbia Milan Koljanin 18 Serbia Olga Manojlović Pintar Institute for Contemporary History, Scientific Researcher Institute for Recent History of Serbia, Scientific Researcher 19 Austria Michael Haider Representative from the Austrian Foreign Ministry 20 Austria Walter Amtmann 21 UNESCO Karel Fracapane National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism Section of Education for Peace and Human Rights, Programme Specialist 22 UNESCO Veronique Dauge Head of Culture Unit, Venice Office