The roots of this project are to be found in the association "Pour la Mémoire des Déportés et des Résistants d'Europe" (For the Memory of Deportees and Resistance Fighters), created by Yvette Bernard-Farnoux, resistance fighter and a deportee in Auschwitz ; by Abel Farnoux, resistant figher and a deportee in Buchenwald and Etienne Raczymow, resistant fighter ; as well as by about twenty members of the French Resistance, deportees or European politicians (Simone Veil, Elie Wiesel, Stephane Hessel...). In 2001, the association created the “Relais de la Mémoire Junior” in order to pass on the memory of deportation and resistance to younger generations. The Relais' annual 'Meetings' bring European A-level students together with survivors of the Second World War and of other recent conflicts in an attempt to pass on memory and humanist and civil values, and to fight against revisionism and Holocaust denial. The current students are among the last that will be able to receive firsthand testimonies on the Second World War. These meetings aim at introducing European citizens to a better understanding of history and to sharpen their critical minds. Five secondary schools from four European countries (France, Germany, Austria, Belgium) would take part in this project : 12 students and two teachers from Marseille ; 8 students and two teachers from Paris ; 8 students and two teachers from Norden ; 8 students and two teachers from Wien ; 8 students and two teachers from Tournai. The chosen students would come from different backgrounds ; however, they would mainly be students with an internationally oriented curriculum ("European section", tourism students) and would be selected on their motivation. Four short exchange trips are planned for the meetings, on a basis of a rotating system between the different schools. Each year, two Meetings revolving around the same theme will be organised. Prior to each Meeting, the students will conduct research activities to increase their knowledge of the annual theme (2018 : “Women in the wartime” ; 2019 : “Removal, Deportation, Space”). These researches will result in multilingual works presented in plenary sessions during the meeting. Several other activities revolving around the theme will also take place (scientific conferences ; informal round-table discussions with witnesses ; memorial visits ; artistic workshops). Other activities will be dedicated to exploring more topical issues All through the project, the student and teachers involved will share their progression on the eTwinning website. This same platform, as well as the website of the “Relais Junior” and the partner schools' websites, will also be used as dissemination media after the Meetings. We are expecting manifold results : - A scientific impact : acquisition of in-depth historical knowledge and research methodology. - A civic impact : development of critical thinking ; reinforcement of democratic values ; confrontation with otherness. - A linguistic impact : improvement of second-language skills.
This project was initiated by the association "Pour la Mémoire des Déportés et des Résistants d'Europe" (For the Memory of the Deported and the Resistance of Europe), created on the initiative of Yvette Bernard-Farnoux, Resistance fighter, deported to Auschwitz; Abel Farnoux, Resistance fighter, deported to Buchenwald; Etienne Raczymow, Resistance fighter, as well as twenty or so former Resistance fighters, deportees, and European politicians (Simone Veil, Elie Wiesel, Stephane Hessel, etc.). In 2001, the association founded the Relais de la Mémoire Junior in order to transmit the memory of the deportation and the resistance to the younger generations. The meetings of the Relais put high school students from several European schools in contact with survivors of the Second World War and other recent conflicts in a humanistic and civic perspective of transmission and to fight against denials of memory such as revisionism and negationism. Today's high school students are the last to be able to benefit from direct testimonies on the Second World War. The aim of these meetings was to help educate European citizens to understand history and to sharpen their critical thinking. In order to carry out this project, we proposed to involve five high schools from four European countries (France, Germany, Austria, Belgium): the Lycée Denis Diderot in Marseille (project leader), the Lycée Molière in Paris XVIe, the Athénée Bara in Tournai (Belgium), the Ulrichsgymnasium in Norden (Germany) and the Lycée Herta Firnberg in Vienna (Austria). Each delegation consisted of a group of 6 to 10 students accompanied by 2 teachers. The students selected came from various backgrounds but primarily from internationally oriented courses (European section, high school for tourism professions) and were selected on the basis of their motivation. The health situation had a heavy impact on the project as it affected and limited the possible activities planned beforehand. However, we managed to adapt to the changing protocols of the different regions and countries of the different solar schools involved. Five short activities could be carried out, according to a rotation principle between the partner institutions. Our activities were based on two meetings per year, centred on the same theme when possible (no physical mobility in the 2020-2021 school year and difficulties in setting up virtual activities due to the very different protocols of the different schools). C1: Meeting in Norden - Germany - November 2019 C2: Meeting in Paris - France - March 2020 C3: Virtual meeting - March 2020 C4: Vienna online - November 2021 C5: Meeting in Tournai - Belgium - March 2022 Prior to each meeting, the students conducted documentary research to deepen their knowledge of the annual theme (2019-20: "Women in War"; 2020-21: "Racism and Holocaust Denial"; 2021-22: "Genocide and Minorities"). These have resulted in work in several languages presented in assembly during the activities (see attachments). During these meetings, a series of activities centred on the theme (scientific conference; meetings with witnesses in a round table format; visits to places of memory; artistic workshops); as well as activities centred on current events (debate on "topical issues") took place. During the course of the project, the pupils and teachers involved communicated on the progress of the work via video-conference meetings. In addition, the work was progressively published on the websites of the schools concerned and on the Relais de la Mémoire website and then used as a means of dissemination after the meetings. The results were multiple: - Scientific impact: deepening of historical knowledge and acquisition of research methods. - Civic impact: development of a critical mind; reinforcement of democratic culture; confrontation with otherness. - Linguistic impact: improvement of foreign language skills