by Annalisa Di Fant /
Thanks to the involvement of the Department of Humanities at the University of Trieste, I was able to participate in the Kick-Off Meeting of the CU Remember project on March 27-28 in Vienna, representing the Museum of the Jewish Community of Trieste Carlo and Vera Wagner. It was very interesting to learn more about the project and meet the people who are actively involved in it.
The Museum of the Jewish Community of Trieste pays particular attention to the world of education: from teacher training—for whom it organizes refresher courses on Jewish history and culture and on teaching the Shoah—to welcoming school groups of all levels, who regularly visit the permanent exhibition and, in some cases, also participate in in-depth educational initiatives, often linked—in the case of secondary schools in Trieste—to Public History work-study projects.
Some examples from recent years include the exhibition Razzismo in cattedra (Racism in the Classroom), which also resulted in a documentary entitled 1938 vita amara (1938: A Bitter Life), produced by the Liceo Classico Linguistico “F. Petrarca” high school during the 2017-2018 school year; research on the Jewish ghetto of Trieste carried out by the Istituto Tecnico Statale “G. Deledda – M. Fabiani“ in the 2019-2020 school year; collaborations with various schools for the annual laying of Stolpersteine (since 2018) and the project ”Passi delle memoria. Racconti per immagini delle Pietre d’inciampo’ (Stepping Stones: Stories in Pictures), which resulted in the mini-film Io sono Ida (I am Ida) and the graphic novel L’oro fra il cemento (Gold Among the Concrete), also linked to the Stolpersteine in Trieste, which saw the collaboration of classes from three schools (Padoa primary school, Dante middle school, and Petrarca high school) during the 2023-24 school year; an in-depth study of the story of a Righteous Among the Nations, culminating in the production of the short film Giusto una luce (Just a Light), with the “Divisione Julia” middle school, during the 2022-2023 school year.
The Museum, in order to organize these initiatives, avails itself of an agreement with the Department of Humanities.
During visits by primary schools, in agreement with or at the request of accompanying teachers, educational workshops are usually organized to discover Jewish culture and traditions. Practical activities are agreed upon depending on the time of year and the Jewish calendar.
Participation in the CU Remember project will enable the Museum to address the complex history and memories of the Shoah with primary schools, using innovative and effective methods.
The Museum of the Jewish Community of Trieste Carlo and Vera Wagner, opened in 1993 and completely rennovated in 2015, is the brainchild of Mario Stock, at that time president of the Jewish Community, and of Gianna, daughter of Carlo and Vera Wagner, and her husband, Claudio de Polo Saibanti. Nowadays the Museum not only offers the public a vast permanent display, but also temporary exhibitions which are organised in collaboration with the Humanities Department of the University of Trieste, or thanks to loans from other institutions. The museum is one of the CU REMEMBER project stakeholders in Italy.