Viewpoint: The Creation of Education…A Legacy Forum

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A Note from Stuart Nichols

Education…A Legacy Forumwill provide a community of information about learning and teaching the Holocaust. Visitorsare invited to contribute articles, content, and feedback.Stuart Nichols, whose Virtual Tour of Auschwitz has been a central part of the Cybrary, is the moderator and developer of this new section. He shares his thoughts and inspirationswhich led to a new section at the Cybrary, devoted to creating a communityof online educational efforts.

Build It and They Will Come
The Creation of Education…A Legacy Forum

by Stuart Nichols

Mike:

It’s a very strange time. I’m reading Sidney Iwens’ book and have become an18 year old in hiding and thrilled by scraps of news of the fight atStalingrad. I checked into the holocaust newsgroup today and found aliberator who’s breaking his own 50 years of silence. Leon Tabory juststunned me with his intellect and insight by way of his response to my ideaof calling the nascent educational forum “Shtetl” – a community of ideas andexchange. I’ve been asked to join a chat group targeting high schoolstudents (and already featuring Joey). Readers in Australia are commendingmy work to their children.

All of this comes together in my thinking about a new forum. Drivingconcepts like Shtetl, Crossroads, Cross Currents, The Meeting Place,Intersections, etc., etc., etc. have been on my mind. But I think “Legacy”is about right. You may have already realized it, but, in case you haven’t,you’ve succeeded in drawing 4 generations of absolute strangers into adiscussion which will likely continue for years. And it’s just what I’dhoped I might contribute to.

I’d like to take the range of what’s been handed down to us in the form ofsites, memories, feelings of loss, contemporary recriminations, or what haveyou into a Legacy forum. Joey has a handle on the survivors and is doingbeautiful work. I’d like to take on other aspects of what’s being handeddown – the camps, the seekers, the less remembered (gays, gypsies, Jehovah’sWitnesses, etc.), anti-Polonism, and more. The central thread comes out ofmy own question – Just what is it we must never forget? – and adds thequestion “How shall we remember?” It could bring in the issue of the campsas physical evidence, for example, including virtual tours, the currentdebate over their preservation, the need to locate and identify them if onlyon e-paper. I’d encourage the liberators to come out. An “In Search Of”link could be fielded at some point. Newsgroups could be polled in searchof contributors on lesser-known victims.

If I may coin a phrase, build it and they will come.

Can you dig it?

Stuart C. Nichols

Reply to: scnichols@nmaa.org

The node grows.


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