On February 17th, the State Museum at Majdanek together with the branch the Museum and Memorial Site in Bełżec organized a methodical training on extracurricular historical education in post-camp memorial sites. It was attended by 25 primary and secondary school teachers from the Zamość region.

The methodological course was intended to inspire and encourage teachers to take advantage of the extracurricular teaching of recent history, carried out through visits to memorial sites.

The seminar begun with a lecture concerning pedagogy of remembrance as a form of museum education. The educational process carried out within the frame of the pedagogy of remembrance is supposed to combine reflection on the past with reflection on our own predispositions, opinions and attitudes. The education carried out in the State Museum at Majdanek as well as in the Museum and the Memorial Site in Bełżec is based on the didactic model of the pedagogy of remembrance. The teachers learned the methods of working with students in museums of commemoration, adapted to the sensitivity and interests of the contemporary audience. Interactive activities, working with source materials, workshops based on original relics of the concentration camp – these are only some of the educational activities that were introduced to the teachers during the training. Temporary exhibitions and possibilieties of their use in work with youth were also presented. The participants got acquainted with the educational offer of the State Museum at Majdanek and the Museum in Bełżec. During the training there was also time for discussions and exchange of views.

The training ended with a guided tour of the former Nazi German extermination camp in Bełżec.