The project dealt with a historical and political topic related to events during the Second World War in Emsland and Liepāja in Latvia. The aim was to promote dealing with the past and history as part of the culture of remembrance. The regional connection to the memorials in Esterwegen and Liepāja was important in order to enable low-threshold, digital education. The memorials commemorate historical events and convey the message against forgetting. The project also raised awareness of current issues such as the war in Ukraine and Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel. Didactic-methodical concepts combined historical-political education with basic digital education for teachers and participants, especially for immigrants and educationally disadvantaged groups. The materials were to include Instagram stories from concentration camp prisoners and also be made available in English. A digital learning offer, such as a virtual memorial site rally, promoted the ability to reflect and expanded knowledge. The project supported inclusion and civic engagement and promoted the media skills of teachers and participants.
The focus on the regional topic of the Emsland camps in historical-political education arose from several occasions, in particular the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the subsequent reception of refugees in Latvia and Germany. Another occasion was a preparatory visit to Riga, during which we encountered questions about the Holocaust and Latvia's role under National Socialism that were not answered. This showed that repression and silence in Latvia have similar patterns to those in Germany when it comes to coming to terms with the Nazi era. The discussions with teachers, colleagues and participants from the courses showed that many people find it very difficult to describe the events linguistically and to place them in the context of overall political events, the traditional images from the different home countries and contextualization. We wanted to encourage learners to acquire knowledge about the history of the Emsland camps, reflect on it and link it to the present. Further research revealed that there are materials for schools in both countries, but there was a lack of appealing, low-threshold digital content for adults and immigrants.