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For more information on this years´ Youth Academies please download the brochure: EUSTORY Youthe Academies in 2010!
Wannsee Forum, Berlin
This instutution combines cultural and political education.
Homepage (in German only)
“Repression Has Many Faces”
EUSTORY Shortfilms 2010
„Nobody has the intention of building a wall“. Neither did the repressive systems of former Eastern bloc have the intention of restricting civil rights, but they did. The short film “Falling Shadows”, made by students from 15 European countries in the context of the EUSTORY Youth Academy 2010 in Berlin, shows scenes of everyday life behind the Iron Curtain. All four films have been produced during the academy’s media workshop and deal with the topic of repression in totalitarian systems - just like the film “Repression Has Many Faces”or “Damaged Rolls”, which deals with the quetsion: How would a seminar of political education would have looked like if it was under the control of a totalitarian state? The short movie “Two Sides Of One Story” gives an example of news reporting in two countries, one with suppressed media and one with a free press.
EUSTORY Academies in 2010
27 August - 03 September in Berlin / Germany
“Damaged Souls – Youth and repression in socialistic systems”
Financed by: Koerber Foundation, Germany
In cooperation with: wannseeFORUM, Berlin
The Eustory Berlin Academy 2010 has gathered 28 young people from 15 European countries to discuss repression and its mechanisms of terror during totalitarian times. In order to investigate the past, the participants were divided into four groups, and went to do field interviews with eye witnesses from GDR, Poland, Spain and Romania. Getting the live pulse of the past, by interviewing people who experienced it, was for some quite a different experience from that offered by history school books: ”We learned history by speaking with actual eyewitnesses, with people who genuinely lived in those systems”, says Ana-Maria Lungu from Romania.
What students also found interesting was the group work done in a very professional and effective way, which brought for some the opportunity to learn about countries which would never come up in one’s history classes: “Groups worked separately and talked about different topics. They presented each other the work results. That saved us time and a lot of effort. Plus we learned information about repression in Poland and Romania which is not included in our history books” thinks Orest Franchuk from Ukraine. Everyone appreciated the “real friendliness and cohesion between the participants” as Sidi Bai from Wales puts it, as well as the multicultural approach of the seminar. “I really loved that we were from different cultures. It was so nice to be able to sit in one room with people coming from 15 different countries. Sometimes I was saying to myself: Is this for real? Is it a dream?”
Despite the difference of nationality and mentality, people worked efficiently and acted as a cohesive group during the debate round with Polish MEP Róża Thun, which they saw as a highlight of the seminar. The fact the her past experiences has made Mrs. Thun become actively involved in the world of politics today, is certainly something which will keep the participants highly motivated for the future in the Eustory Network. As Sidi Bai noticed, the Eustory Summer Academy offered her and the others the real opportunity to “express my ideas in mature discussions with others and share my thoughts with them”. This was from us, the Eustory team, sharing some of the participants’ thoughts with you!
