Description
A few of the thousands of wedding rings the Germans removed from their victims to salvage the gold. U.S. troops found rings, watches, precious stones, eyeglasses, and gold fillings, near Buchenwald concentration camp. Germany, May 5, 1945. T4c. Roberts. (Army)
NARA FILE #: 111-SC-206406
WAR & CONFLICT BOOK #: 1130
I am about to make a presentation to my colleagues and supervisors. I thought it would be helpful to perhaps write down my presentation first to make sure it has what I need to persuade a group that is highly tech savvy, yet probably as pessimistic of any group as to the merits of this project. Here goes:
To understand this project you must understand its motivation, its genesis. To do that, I have created a one slide presentation. Yes, one slide. One slide...one title... one picture says it all.
This picture is of a box of rings: Rings taken from Holocaust victims at Buchenwald concentration camp. At first blush you may look at the picture and think, "Wow, those are a lot of rings". You may reflect further, that it is by extension, a lot of victims. Yet, what this project is really all about.... essentially about, is that the rings represent so much more. Many of us have rings. With few exceptions rings are a token of wonderful things, weddings, friendships, anniversaries, loved ones past. During our quietest moments we think of our rings and reflect on these good memories and times. They are our hopes, dreams, and happy times. Yet here in this picture, we see a box of rings, but don't we see more? When we think deeply about this picture we come to understand that here lies peoples hopes and dreams.... shattered, by a hatred and cruelty that is STILL hard to fathom.
You see, to understand history, to love history, to appreciate all its meaning and nuances, we must see into it. We must look into history through our own minds eye.
And that, is what this project is all about.
It is about not just learning about the Holocaust, but as the title suggests, Understanding the Holocaust.
It is my wholehearted belief that by giving kids the tools to view history simulations through a virtual environment, that it will give them one more level of understanding as to the context and minds eye view that is essential to deeper understanding, and by extension, the higher order understandings of compassion, of bias, of bullying, of power, of leadership, and on and on.
I'm going to show you the elements of the project, but before I do, let me finish this one slide presentation with a quote that I came across from watching television on a rainy Saturday. To quote from the movie, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium,
"Unlikely adventures, require unlikely tools"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457419/quotes?qt=qt0429664
I present... the Understanding the Holocaust Project.
This picture is of a box of rings: Rings taken from Holocaust victims at Buchenwald concentration camp. At first blush you may look at the picture and think, "Wow, those are a lot of rings". You may reflect further, that it is by extension, a lot of victims. Yet, what this project is really all about.... essentially about, is that the rings represent so much more. Many of us have rings. With few exceptions rings are a token of wonderful things, weddings, friendships, anniversaries, loved ones past. During our quietest moments we think of our rings and reflect on these good memories and times. They are our hopes, dreams, and happy times. Yet here in this picture, we see a box of rings, but don't we see more? When we think deeply about this picture we come to understand that here lies peoples hopes and dreams.... shattered, by a hatred and cruelty that is STILL hard to fathom.
You see, to understand history, to love history, to appreciate all its meaning and nuances, we must see into it. We must look into history through our own minds eye.
And that, is what this project is all about.
It is about not just learning about the Holocaust, but as the title suggests, Understanding the Holocaust.
It is my wholehearted belief that by giving kids the tools to view history simulations through a virtual environment, that it will give them one more level of understanding as to the context and minds eye view that is essential to deeper understanding, and by extension, the higher order understandings of compassion, of bias, of bullying, of power, of leadership, and on and on.
I'm going to show you the elements of the project, but before I do, let me finish this one slide presentation with a quote that I came across from watching television on a rainy Saturday. To quote from the movie, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium,
"Unlikely adventures, require unlikely tools"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457419/quotes?qt=qt0429664
I present... the Understanding the Holocaust Project.
No comments:
Post a Comment