Images. The International Journal of European Film, Performing Arts and Audiovisual Communication
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„I will survive” – reprezentacja Holocaustu w sztuce współczesnej
Get PDF Jane Korman, a Jewish artist, filmed the video „Dancing Auschwitz” on a trip to former concentration camps with her three children and her father, Adolek Kohn, who is a Holocaust survivor. The film shows three generations of an Jewish family dancing to the Gloria Gaynor song “I Will Survive” in front of Holocaust land marks in Poland, including infamous rail tracks and “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign and a memorial in Łódź, where Adolek Kohn and his wife spent most of his youth during World War II. This video is a demonstration of the will to survive. Moreover, Korman’film shows other places in Poland like The Main Market Square in Kraków, a Polish synagogue or one of the bus station from eastern Poland. These places may represent the sites and the traces of the History in the contemporary Polish reality which has been radically transformed after Auschwitz. Memories are a way to remain connected to the past. The great power of the images, the clichés of the unimaginable trauma of the Holocaust, is still in our imagination and in the landscape of Polish cities. In my presentation I will not only try to explain the abovementioned case but I will focus also on some others examples of the idea. One of the Polish projects that bring about associations with the Holocaust and the memory of Nazi camps is „Swimming Pool” („Pływalnia”, 2003) by Rafał Jakubowicz (projection, two videos, postcard). By projecting the Hebrew equivalent of the word „swimming pool” on the wall of the former synagogue (in 1940 the Nazis converted synagogue into a swimming pool for the Wehrmacht), the artist managed to reactivate this place, to revive its memory and transform it into a living monument. In his video, entitled „Swimming Pool”(13 min.), Jakubowicz is showing the interior of the building that provokes the associations with the concentration camps.„I will survive” – Representation of the Holocaust in Contemporary Art Jane Korman, a Jewish artist, filmed the video „Dancing Auschwitz” on a trip to former concentration camps with her three children and her father, Adolek Kohn, who is a Holocaust survivor. The film shows three generations of an Jewish family dancing to the Gloria Gaynor song “I Will Survive” in front of Holocaust land marks in Poland, including infamous rail tracks and “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign and a memorial in Łódź, where Adolek Kohn and his wife spent most of his youth during World War II. This video is a demonstration of the will to survive. Moreover, Korman’film shows other places in Poland like The Main Market Square in Kraków, a Polish synagogue or one of the bus station from eastern Poland. These places may represent the sites and the traces of the History in the contemporary Polish reality which has been radically transformed after Auschwitz. Memories are a way to remain connected to the past. The great power of the images, the clichés of the unimaginable trauma of the Holocaust, is still in our imagination and in the landscape of Polish cities. In my presentation I will not only try to explain the abovementioned case but I will focus also on some others examples of the idea. One of the Polish projects that bring about associations with the Holocaust and the memory of Nazi camps is „Swimming Pool” („Pływalnia”, 2003) by Rafał Jakubowicz (projection, two videos, postcard). By projecting the Hebrew equivalent of the word „swimming pool” on the wall of the former synagogue (in 1940 the Nazis converted synagogue into a swimming pool for the Wehrmacht), the artist managed to reactivate this place, to revive its memory and transform it into a living monument. In his video, entitled „Swimming Pool”(13 min.), Jakubowicz is showing the interior of the building that provokes the associations with the concentration camps
Israeli Youth Pilgrimages to Poland. Rationale and Polemics
Get PDFThe article, which was written based on material collected as part of a project evaluating the pilgrimage trips to Poland by Israeli adolescents as part of the Holocaust curriculum, attempted to provide the reader with the background for these trips. In this context, the authors discussed the evolving national agenda in Israel, and the transition from experiencing independence to experiencing the Holocaust. It was explained that this process began with the Eichmann trial in 1961, but became far more intense after the political upheaval in 1977, when the Labor Party, which had been in power since the 1920s, lost the election. The authors of the article stressed that in the wake of the profound social changes that took place in Israeli society, the memory of the Holocaust gained new significance among the country’s national priorities. While a policy known as “the great silence” regarding the Holocaust prevailed among the first generation after statehood, the Holocaust has now become a factor that shaped the national ethos. In 1979, for the first time, the Ministry of Education commissioned two curricula dealing exclusively with the Holocaust. It was this new attitude to the sources of Israeli identity that led to the commencement of trips to Poland by adolescents in the 1980s. Since the trips began, in 1988, over 300,000 adolescents have traveled to Poland. These journeys have become a sort of rite de passage for the relevant age group (high school juniors and seniors). They can be compared to backpacking by young adults who travel abroad to “clear their heads” after completing their army service, on trips lasting anywhere from a few months to two years. The authors noted that nevertheless, only 25-30% of Israeli adolescents actually take part in these journeys. Inter alia, the article reviewed the evolving goals of the trips defined by the MOE, in accordance with the worldview of the minister in office, and noted that, in accordance with the spirit of the times, there were sometimes differences in the main nuances along the particularism-universality axis. The article further stated that apart from the terms in office of ministers Rubinstein and Aloni, the assimilation of the humanistic, moral, universal and anti-totalitarian lessons of the Holocaust during the trips was minor. The article includes a fairly extensive discussion of the dispute on this issue in Israeli discourse. The article noted that the Holocaust and its lessons can be examined from three different perspectives: The first perspective focuses on presenting the universal significance of the Holocaust and perceiving it as parallel to other cases of genocide (such as the murder of the Armenians by the Turks, the genocide in Rwanda and so on). The second perspective focuses on presenting the national significance of the Holocaust as a unique and unparalleled case of the Jewish People. The perception held by this approach is actually “the whole world is against us.” The third perspective is a synthesis of these two approaches. In this article, the authors noted that the longstanding debate in Israeli society over the various methods for instilling the Holocaust and the journeys to Poland by adolescents expresses these three perspectives. The speakers and writers interviewed in the field research each represent one of these perspectives. The article contains many direct quotations from authors, teachers, academics and others, which support the points made by the authors.Israeli Youth Pilgrimages to Poland: Rationale and Polemics The article, which was written based on material collected as part of a project evaluating the pilgrimage trips to Poland by Israeli adolescents as part of the Holocaust curriculum, attempted to provide the reader with the background for these trips. In this context, the authors discussed the evolving national agenda in Israel, and the transition from experiencing independence to experiencing the Holocaust. It was explained that this process began with the Eichmann trial in 1961, but became far more intense after the political upheaval in 1977, when the Labor Party, which had been in power since the 1920s, lost the election. The authors of the article stressed that in the wake of the profound social changes that took place in Israeli society, the memory of the Holocaust gained new significance among the country’s national priorities. While a policy known as “the great silence” regarding the Holocaust prevailed among the first generation after statehood, the Holocaust has now become a factor that shaped the national ethos. In 1979, for the first time, the Ministry of Education commissioned two curricula dealing exclusively with the Holocaust. It was this new attitude to the sources of Israeli identity that led to the commencement of trips to Poland by adolescents in the 1980s. Since the trips began, in 1988, over 300,000 adolescents have traveled to Poland. These journeys have become a sort of rite de passage for the relevant age group (high school juniors and seniors). They can be compared to backpacking by young adults who travel abroad to “clear their heads” after completing their army service, on trips lasting anywhere from a few months to two years. The authors noted that nevertheless, only 25-30% of Israeli adolescents actually take part in these journeys. Inter alia, the article reviewed the evolving goals of the trips defined by the MOE, in accordance with the worldview of the minister in office, and noted that, in accordance with the spirit of the times, there were sometimes differences in the main nuances along the particularism-universality axis. The article further stated that apart from the terms in office of ministers Rubinstein and Aloni, the assimilation of the humanistic, moral, universal and anti-totalitarian lessons of the Holocaust during the trips was minor. The article includes a fairly extensive discussion of the dispute on this issue in Israeli discourse. The article noted that the Holocaust and its lessons can be examined from three different perspectives: The first perspective focuses on presenting the universal significance of the Holocaust and perceiving it as parallel to other cases of genocide (such as the murder of the Armenians by the Turks, the genocide in Rwanda and so on). The second perspective focuses on presenting the national significance of the Holocaust as a unique and unparalleled case of the Jewish People. The perception held by this approach is actually “the whole world is against us.” The third perspective is a synthesis of these two approaches. In this article, the authors noted that the longstanding debate in Israeli society over the various methods for instilling the Holocaust and the journeys to Poland by adolescents expresses these three perspectives. The speakers and writers interviewed in the field research each represent one of these perspectives. The article contains many direct quotations from authors, teachers, academics and others, which support the points made by the authors
Kamera i poeta doctus? O filmach Edwarda Żebrowskiego z perspektywy lotu ptaka
Get PDFThis text conserns the excelent polish director Edwrad Żebrowski’ creation. It has character of synthetic discussion. It shows main formal questions of it this creation and main problems of it. It is considered also the question of anachronism of these movies.Camera and poeta doctus? About Edward Żebrowski’s FilmsThis text conserns the excelent polish director Edwrad Żebrowski’ creation. It has character of synthetic discussion. It shows main formal questions of it this creation and main problems of it. It is considered also the question of anachronism of these movies
The challenges of Holocaust instruction and remembrance - Particular and universal aspects in formal and informal interdisciplinary curricula in Israel and abroad
Get PDFThe challenges of Holocaust instruction and remembrance - Particular and universal aspects in formal and informal interdisciplinary curricula in Israel and abroadThe present article examines Holocaust instruction in Israel and in France, addressing formal and informal aspects of teaching practices. Specifically, the article examines whether Holocaust instruction constitutes a unifying factor that stresses what is common to human beings, among adolescents at schools in Israel and abroad, or whether it is a continuation of the methodic axis of the general model of the school and its credo. The study was conducted as part of a large-scale project evaluating 20 years of journeys to Poland by Israeli youth. It is based on a qualitative research apporoach that included analysis of interviews with policymakers, representatives of Holocaust institutes and foundations, teachers, students and guides. It also made use of field observations and official documents. The qualitative analysis revealed that that the dominant didactic models in Israel and France differ from one another in the importance that they attribute to universal versus the particular elements. Each of the models was built based on a didactic foundation of educational and teaching activity at the school in general, and Holocaust instruction in particular. The study findings indicate that in general, the Holocaust instruction in Israel continues to emphasize the particular. It serves as a tool for strengthening the unique values of the event, and stresses Israeliness, Zionism, and Jewishness. The climax of the modal is an eight-day journey to Poland, centering on a visit to Auschwitz. In contrast, Holocaust instruction in France emphasizes the universal. The curriculum positions the journey as the climax of the scholastic experience but, unlike the Israeli curriculum, it emphasizes the historical and universal aspects of the Holocaust and represses the singularity of the event in the context of the Jewish people. A comparison of the two countries underlines the substantive differences separating the two different educational systems, which have adopted different sets of values.The present article examines Holocaust instruction in Israel and in France, addressing formal and informal aspects of teaching practices. Specifically, the article examines whether Holocaust instruction constitutes a unifying factor that stresses what is common to human beings, among adolescents at schools in Israel and abroad, or whether it is a continuation of the methodic axis of the general model of the school and its credo. The study was conducted as part of a large-scale project evaluating 20 years of journeys to Poland by Israeli youth. It is based on a qualitative research apporoach that included analysis of interviews with policymakers, representatives of Holocaust institutes and foundations, teachers, students and guides. It also made use of field observations and official documents. The qualitative analysis revealed that that the dominant didactic models in Israel and France differ from one another in the importance that they attribute to universal versus the particular elements. Each of the models was built based on a didactic foundation of educational and teaching activity at the school in general, and Holocaust instruction in particular. The study findings indicate that in general, the Holocaust instruction in Israel continues to emphasize the particular. It serves as a tool for strengthening the unique values of the event, and stresses Israeliness, Zionism, and Jewishness. The climax of the modal is an eight-day journey to Poland, centering on a visit to Auschwitz. In contrast, Holocaust instruction in France emphasizes the universal. The curriculum positions the journey as the climax of the scholastic experience but, unlike the Israeli curriculum, it emphasizes the historical and universal aspects of the Holocaust and represses the singularity of the event in the context of the Jewish people. A comparison of the two countries underlines the substantive differences separating the two different educational systems, which have adopted different sets of values
Co to jest medium?
Get PDF At the beginning the author expresses his opinion that there is a national confusion which nowadays prevails about the nation of medium. His explications, in which he reminds his readers about the indirectness of media communication, are of historical character and expose numerous examples of notional abuse. One of the these states that without defining, in the broadest possible way, the notion of medium, which is a crucial one for media studies, it appears tha any systematic scientific reflection is impossible. As a remedy for the notional confusion, acceptance of the realistic definition of medium which was worked out by Werner Faulstich and based on the theoretical concept of Urlich Saxer („media are systems which solve problems”) is suggested. Therefore, that definition, four dimensions of which define the bases of empirical media studies, means the symbolic „patricide” of the main founder of modern media studies Marshall McLuhan and makes empirical, functional history and theory of the media possible.What is a Medium?At the beginning the author expresses his opinion that there is a national confusion which nowadays prevails about the nation of medium. His explications, in which he reminds his readers about the indirectness of media communication, are of historical character and expose numerous examples of notional abuse. One of the these states that without defining, in the broadest possible way, the notion of medium, which is a crucial one for media studies, it appears tha any systematic scientific reflection is impossible. As a remedy for the notional confusion, acceptance of the realistic definition of medium which was worked out by Werner Faulstich and based on the theoretical concept of Urlich Saxer („media are systems which solve problems”) is suggested. Therefore, that definition, four dimensions of which define the bases of empirical media studies, means the symbolic „patricide” of the main founder of modern media studies Marshall McLuhan and makes empirical, functional history and theory of the media possible
Pianista – obraz getta w filmowym języku Romana Polańskiego
Get PDFThe Pianist – the image of a ghetto in the film language of Roman Polanski The work of Roman Polański has always been a unique example of both craftsmanship and interesting subjects. Each of his films (even of those crushed by the superficial interpretations of the reviewers) functioned perfectly well in popular culture and as an artistic accomplishment. It reconciled the tastes of both sophisticated viewers and those who looked for simple entertainment. Roman Polański’s method of creation entails the use of a number of curtains (genres, popular culture subjects, popular patterns) which cover the deeply hidden truth about the world and relations among people. In The Pianist the subject of the Holocaust was used as the key to show the mechanisms that rule the world. Also in this case the most obvious diagnosis proves to be the least important. The Pianist is not an autobiography dealing with the memories from a getto. Definitely more significant is the attempt to juxtapose the image of a ghetto and its inhabitants with the film language of Roman Polański. It makes it possible to read the problem of the Holocaust against the motifs always present in his work, including the context of the cinema of the kind. In The Pianist Polański joins the precision of a craftsman with the memory of a witness. As a result, using the solutions known from Hollywood films, he tells the story of a ghetto, which is seen as the metapher of the whole world.The Pianist – the image of a ghetto in the film language of Roman Polanski The work of Roman Polański has always been a unique example of both craftsmanship and interesting subjects. Each of his films (even of those crushed by the superficial interpretations of the reviewers) functioned perfectly well in popular culture and as an artistic accomplishment. It reconciled the tastes of both sophisticated viewers and those who looked for simple entertainment. Roman Polański’s method of creation entails the use of a number of curtains (genres, popular culture subjects, popular patterns) which cover the deeply hidden truth about the world and relations among people. In The Pianist the subject of the Holocaust was used as the key to show the mechanisms that rule the world. Also in this case the most obvious diagnosis proves to be the least important. The Pianist is not an autobiography dealing with the memories from a getto. Definitely more significant is the attempt to juxtapose the image of a ghetto and its inhabitants with the film language of Roman Polański. It makes it possible to read the problem of the Holocaust against the motifs always present in his work, including the context of the cinema of the kind. In The Pianist Polański joins the precision of a craftsman with the memory of a witness. As a result, using the solutions known from Hollywood films, he tells the story of a ghetto, which is seen as the metapher of the whole world
Etiudy Romana Polańskiego
Get PDF Director/writer/actor Roman Polanski is one of the central figures in the history of Film School in Łódź. This study provides a detailed and comprehensive introduction to examine cinematic and artistic values of his early short films made between 1955 and 1961 in Poland and in France before his professional feature length debut “Knife in the Water” (1962). In his essential work Marek Hendrykowski looks at these nine shorts with in-depth analysis and adopts both historical and theoretical approach, making use of poetics terms, close reading method and socio-cultural interpretation. In its treatment of Polanski’s études this unique study discusses why these films are important in so many aspects and attracitve from many points of view and they have come to symbolise and represent modern cinema in Poland of the 1950s and early 1960s.Roman Polanski’s Short Films Director/writer/actor Roman Polanski is one of the central figures in the history of Film School in Łódź. This study provides a detailed and comprehensive introduction to examine cinematic and artistic values of his early short films made between 1955 and 1961 in Poland and in France before his professional feature length debut “Knife in the Water” (1962). In his essential work Marek Hendrykowski looks at these nine shorts with in-depth analysis and adopts both historical and theoretical approach, making use of poetics terms, close reading method and socio-cultural interpretation. In its treatment of Polanski’s études this unique study discusses why these films are important in so many aspects and attracitve from many points of view and they have come to symbolise and represent modern cinema in Poland of the 1950s and early 1960s
The Universal and the Particular: Twin Foci in Holocaust Education
Get PDFThe Universal and the Particular: Twin Foci in Holocaust EducationThe Holocaust has pedagogical signicance not only for Jews and for Israel, but perhaps even more so for Christians, Europeans, North Americans, nad others. Its ramifications are especially salient with regard to theology and notions of nationality nad ethnicity. Examples are given from historical and liturgical texts, as well as belles lettres.The Holocaust has pedagogical signicance not only for Jews and for Israel, but perhaps even more so for Christians, Europeans, North Americans, nad others. Its ramifications are especially salient with regard to theology and notions of nationality nad ethnicity. Examples are given from historical and liturgical texts, as well as belles lettres