The second Persecution Through Their Eyes youth event took place successfully on October 13 in Sant’Anna di Stazzema National Park of Peace. Following the triumph of the first event in Camp Vught, participants had the chance to visit the ‘Persecution Through Their Eyes exhibition, and the National Park memorial sites and watch animations created by students from the St. Joost School of Art & Design.
Persecution Through Their Eyes, a European Union-funded project, aims to offer a multi-perspective and transnational view of Nazi persecution, spotlighting the experiences of victims and perpetrators. Victims included Jews, Roma/Sinti, political prisoners, homosexuals, prisoners of war, civilians, and resistance fighters among others.
The project is organised by the LRE Foundation in partnership with organizations such as Camp Vught National Memorial (Netherlands), Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation (Germany), the National Peace Park of Sant’Anna di Stazzema (Italy), LRE Italy, and Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre Centre in Lublin (Poland).
Over 100 students explored Sant’Anna di Stazzema’s square, church, Historical Museum of the Resistance, and other remembrance sites connected to the massacre, which happened on August 12, 1944, in the small town. The event’s key moments included the unveiling of the Persecution Through Their Eyes exhibition and the screening of short films created by the students of the St. Joost School of Art & Design.
The exhibition, located at the Factory of Rights in the Sant’Anna National Park of Peace, will be open to the public until the end of December 2023 and can be visited by appointment only.
“Persecution Through Their Eyes is the third in a successful series of European Union-funded projects targeted at improving young people’s awareness of World War II.”, noted Joanna Roman, Project Manager at the LRE Foundation. “This youth event was fascinating in a variety of ways. We had the opportunity to share previously unknown personal stories with the students and to visit places of memory that must be protected and fostered.”
Persecution Through Their Eyes will continue to inspire young people with upcoming events organized by project partners. The next youth event is scheduled for October 30 at the Catholic University of Lublin in Poland, and the last one will be held on November 7 at the Buchenwald Memorial in Germany.
