Refusing to adopt official history textbooks, ultra-Orthodox people learn the history of the Holocaust through pre-recorded lessons and 3D multimedia content on their phones.
January 27 is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In Israel, while the political authorities and official Orthodox Judaism take part in Holocaust-related commemorations, this is not the case for ultra-Orthodox communities, recalls the columnist haredi [ultraorthodoxe] Israel Hershkovitz on the site Al-Monitor.
“As strange as it may seem, the Holocaust is included in the curriculum of all Israeli educational networks, including the Arab sector, but not in the ultra-Orthodox networks, for which it is a secular subject. ” The columnist clarifies that it is history in general that is simply not taught in ultra-Orthodox schools.
This situation is all the more difficult to understand since, as Israel Hershkovitz regrets, in Eastern Europe, “Ultra-Orthodox communities were particularly hard hit by the Holocaust”.
But, three years ago, a small revolution was launched under the impetus of a few ultra-Orthodox young people. “The latter have developed a telephone application that allows you to listen to pre-recorded lessons on the Holocaust.” Proof of an enormous thirst for learning, tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox people rushed to this application. The voice of the narrator, Israel Goldwasser, has become so familiar that the latter “is now considered an authority among the ultra-Orthodox.”
“It’s the least we can do”
For Goldwasser, “It is sad to see that while so many Hasidic courts and dynasties disappeared in the Holocaust without trace and while so many believers braved the Nazi threat to keep their faith and religion alive, the latter did not are entitled to no place of honor in our teaching”.
But the chasm remains huge between the ultra-Orthodox and other Israelis, who also benefit from official programs that offer them, for example, school trips to the places of the Holocaust in Eastern Europe.
To fill this gap, “Israel Goldwasser has decided to use the notoriety he has acquired among the ultra-Orthodox public to develop multimedia content in 3D” allowing them to get closer to the reality experienced by the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. “It’s the least we can do for these martyrs,” he concludes.
Source
Created in February 2012 by American-Syrian businessman Jamal Daniel, Al-Monitor aims to be the most complete news site on the Middle East. It also hosts the Israeli Akiva Eldar, ex-editorialist of Ha’Aretz
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