The Hercules monument is a landmark in the German city of Kassel. It is located in the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe (Wilhelmshöhe Mountainpark) in northern Hesse, Germany.
Screenshot
Presentation by Franzisca Schubert
International center on the Nazi era – Arolsen Archives
The world’s most comprehensive archive on the victims & survivors of the Nazi era ✓UNESCO’s Memory of the World ✓research & education ▶Find out more!
A walk around Bad Arolsen& lunch with Ernst & Beate
Australians Jill and Eli Rabinowitz visited the site of the Great Synagogue of Kassel Germany in November 2024, where 86 years ago, on 7 November 1938, Kristallnacht, known as Pogromnacht in Germany, began.
Translation of this plaque
The Synagogue
This is where the Great Synagogue of the Kassel Jewish community stood, completed in 1839 and having 2,301 members in May 1933.
Many had already fled when, on 7 November 1938, activists from the Nazi Party broke into the synagogue and broke open the Torah shrine, setting fire to prayer scrolls and cult objects.
The city administration immediately demolished the intact building in order to build a parking lot there. The community was broken up.
Jill and Eli Rabinowitz with Tanja Colgan, German teacher Goethe Institute
The Project is a two-hour workshop of a book reading with a creative art activity for upper primary classrooms (Years 5 and 6). The story links with HASS units on civics, migration and refugees. Intercurricular learning opportunities promote values of empathy, kindness and inclusivity in the multicultural classroom.
This project is a stepping stone to the study of the Holocaust, refugees and anti semitism in high school. The project is unique at the primary school level.
The WE ARE HERE! Foundation provides the calico pockets, art materials and paints together with a free mini copy of In My Pocket for each student.
In My Pocket is Dorrith Sim’s true account of her escape from danger on the Kindertransport.
The Project is supported by the German Embassy in Canberra and the German Hon Consul in WA.
The German version of the book, In Meiner Tasche, is promoted by the Goethe Institute in Australia.
Zoom/Teams training is available for teachers.
The project was first launched at Jewish Day schools around Australia and South Africa in 2023/4. Since then, it has been successfully extended to state, private, Catholic and Independent schools as well as to public libraries.
In My Pocket Project – Introduces a powerful family story to 9 to 11 year olds
From: Eli Rabinowitz
Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2023 01:38:14 EDT
In My Pocket Project – an autobiographical picture story and related art workshop about the Kindertransport
Introduces a powerful family story to 9 to 11 year olds
Dorrith Sim was born Jewish, went on the Kindertransport in July 1939, and was fostered by non-Jewish people in Scotland.
Her parents were murdered in Auschwitz. She commemorated each year with a yahrzeit candle.
Most importantly, Dorrith wrote a children’s book, age appropriate for 9 to 11 year olds, to tell her true story, explaining how she went from the discrimination as a Jew in Germany to the kindness of people in Scotland. Dorrith’s family story speaks powerfully to all young children today.
Dorrith’s children in Scotland, the Scottish Jewish Archives, Gathering Voices in Glasgow, Points of Arrival at the University of Edinburgh, the Stadmuseum in Hofgeismar, the German Embassy in Canberra and the Hon German Consul in Perth, all have freely provided the resources to the WE ARE HERE! Foundation, to make this project available globally.
Starting this week, the WE ARE HERE! Foundation’s CEO, Eli Rabinowitz, is travelling to Germany, Lithuania, Israel, Scotland and England to further develop these resources. Eli will be presenting at the IAJGS Conference in London at the end of July.
Schools, public libraries and museums are adopting the project, a true life story powerfully introducing the subject of family history to primary school students.
Carmel Primary School in Perth Australia together with the WE ARE HERE! Foundation recently ran the first ever incursion of the project.
The German Embassy in Canberra reports:
Permission to use these photos have been obtained.
The project consists of a book reading, a Q & A session, and an associated art workshop with the students.
Each student gets to take home a free mini pocket book of Dorrith’s true story and their painted artwork.
In addition, the WE ARE HERE! Foundation prints A4 books for school libraries.
The project is also being run in public libraries in Perth and Mandurah as well as the main WA Boola Bardip Museum in Perth.
All five Sydney Jewish Day primary schools are running the project in 2023, as well as non-Jewish schools such as the Montessori School in Perth.
The project has now expanded into South Africa whereHerzlia and Weizmann primary schools in Cape Town will run the project this year – the first collaboration with schools outside Australia!
