First Seminar for Teachers on the Holocaust and Tolerance

On April 9-10, 2008, a seminar "Methodology of Teaching Holocaust and Discrimination Issues" was held in Daugavpils at the Latgola Hotel.

The seminar was organized by the "Shamir" community in cooperation with The Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research, The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, the Ministry of Integration, and the Embassy of Israel in Latvia. The seminar audience included history teachers, social studies and other humanities teachers, librarians and museum workers.

The seminar was attended by Latvia's best teachers, researchers of the Holocaust, discrimination and the history of Jews in Latvia: Professor Aivars Stranga (University of Latvia), Professor Iosif Shteiman (Daugavpils University), Dmitry Olekhnovich (Daugavpils University), Dace Saleniece (Ministry of Education and Science), Rita Bogdanova (Center for Judaic Studies of the University of Latvia), as well as political figures: Ambassador of Israel to Latvia and Lithuania Mr. Hen Ivri and Deputy Speaker of the Latvian Saeima Karina Petersone. Great assistance in organizing the seminar was provided by researcher of the history of Jews in Latgale Iosif Rochko, who gave a very interesting lecture on the history of the Daugavpils ghetto.

More than sixty teachers from Daugavpils and small towns of Latgale came to the seminar. Daugavpils was chosen as the venue for the seminar not by chance: on the one hand, it is a former center of Jewish life, and on the other, teachers from the Latgale province rarely get the opportunity to participate in a scientific seminar without leaving their region, and they experience a lack of materials and new professional impressions.

As part of the seminar, an evening dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the independence of the State of Israel was held in the Daugavpils Jewish community. Ambassador of Israel Mr. Ivri, head of the "Shamir" community, Rabbi Menachem Barkahan, as well as amateur groups of the community performed before the audience.

The seminar concluded with a ceremony honoring a Righteous Among the Nations, organized by the Embassy of Israel in Latvia. The ceremony took place at Daugavpils Secondary School No. 10. Boris Lavrenov, son of Ivan Lavrenov, who saved two Jewish women during World War II, received a medal and certificate from Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Press about us:

Холокост и его уроки. Cтатья в газете «ЧАС». В Даугавпилсе наградили Праведника мира. Статья в газете «Вести». Как преподавать холокост?.. Статья в газете «Наша газета». В Даугавпилсе жил праведник мира. Gorod.lv