The educational programme carried out since 2004 by the Martyrs’ Museum in Żabikowo provides documentation for and disseminates the history of the following events:
the expulsion of Polish Jews from Germany in 1938;
the Night of Broken Glass – 9-10 November, 1938. Criminal and spectacular discrimination of Jews in Germany;
the Nazi invasion of Poland;
concentration camps and prisons. Fort VII in Poznań;
ghettos and forced labour camps for Jews in the Wielkopolska region;
construction of the current A2 motorway from Frankurt (Oder) to Poznań;
extermination camp in Chełmno upon Ner and other places of extermination.
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The educational programme is carried out in cooperation with the mayor of the city of Zbąszyń, Department of Art and Culture of the Marshal Office of the Wielkopolska Province, the local Board of Education and District Museum in Konin. The Remembrance Day is traditionally celebrated in Zbąszyń as in October, 1938, the town provided humanitarian aid to about 5000 Jews expelled from the Third Reich. The event, called “A Prelude to Extermination”, is commemorated as a part of our project entitled From Zbąszyń to Chełmno upon Ner.
Every year the Martyr’s Museum in Żabikowo organizes educational workshops from the series called Polish Jews – History and Culture with participation of middle and secondary school children from the Wielkopolska Province. The workshops in the Place of National Remembrance are an extraschool form of education. Their aim is to familiarize young people with history, tradition, feasts and cuisine of the Jewish people. At workshops, teenagers have a chance to learn, on the basis of Tovy Ben-Zvi’s memories (one of the tutors), the life of pre-war Jews and their fate in the occupied Poland. Workshop topics are previously consulted with group tutors. Joanna Brańska from Warsaw and Tova Ben-Zvi – Israeli pedagogue and songster – have been the authors and leaders of workshops.
For many young people, youth volunteer camps Workcamps are a chance not only to contribute to the issue of world peace, but also to visit new places and meet people from completely different environments. During the two-week camps, teenagers from all over the world become involved in local enterprises, they can also fulfill their personal dreams and goals, broaden their knowledge of the world and open their minds to what has previously been unknown to them. Workcamps are held in Żabikowo at the end of July and the beginning of August. Young people from Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Great Britain, Sweden, Kazakhstan, Finland, Russia, France, Kosovo, Mexico, Ukraine, Ireland and Spain have already partaken in the event. During the first Workcamp, teenagers cleaned matzevahs (Jewish tombstones) collected from the former Jewish cemetery in Poznań. Between 2009–2010 volunteers focused on excavations conducted on the grounds of the Żabikowo camp, which allowed to unveil the remains of camp buildings and objects from the times when thousands of people had been exterminated there. Workcamp participants could learn the detailed history of the occupation of the Wielkopolska Province, visiting places of remembrance, e.g. Fort VII in Poznań and Chełmno upon Ner. The major goal of Workcamps was achieved as young participants became integrated, visiting Luboń and Poznań together.
