The Relay of Memory Erasmus Project

Project Title

The Relay of Memory

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Teaching and learning of foreign languages; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning

Project Summary

The roots of this project are to be found in the association “Pour la Mémoire des Déportés et des Résistants d’Europe” (For the Memory of Deportees and Resistance Fighters), created by Yvette Bernard-Farnoux, resistance fighter and a deportee in Auschwitz ; by Abel Farnoux, resistant figher and a deportee in Buchenwald and Etienne Raczymow, resistant fighter ; as well as by about twenty members of the French Resistance, deportees or European politicians (Simone Veil, Elie Wiesel, Stephane Hessel…).
In 2001, the association created the “Relais de la Mémoire Junior” in order to pass on the memory of deportation and resistance to younger generations.

The Relais’ annual ‘Meetings’ bring European A-level students together with survivors of the Second World War and of other recent conflicts in an attempt to pass on memory and humanist and civil values, and to fight against revisionism and Holocaust denial. The current students are among the last that will be able to receive firsthand testimonies on the Second World War. These meetings aim at introducing European citizens to a better understanding of history and to sharpen their critical minds.
Five secondary schools from four European countries (France, Germany, Austria, Belgium) would take part in this project : 12 students and two teachers from Marseille ; 8 students and two teachers from Paris ; 8 students and two teachers from Norden ; 8 students and two teachers from Wien ; 8 students and two teachers from Tournai. The chosen students would come from different backgrounds ; however, they would mainly be students with an internationally oriented curriculum (“European section”, tourism students) and would be selected on their motivation.

Four short exchange trips are planned for the meetings, on a basis of a rotating system between the different schools. Each year, two Meetings revolving around the same theme will be organised. Prior to each Meeting, the students will conduct research activities to increase their knowledge of the annual theme (2018 : “Women in the wartime” ; 2019 : “Removal, Deportation, Space”).
These researches will result in multilingual works presented in plenary sessions during the meeting. Several other activities revolving around the theme will also take place (scientific conferences ; informal round-table discussions with witnesses ; memorial visits ; artistic workshops). Other activities will be dedicated to exploring more topical issues
All through the project, the student and teachers involved will share their progression on the eTwinning website. This same platform, as well as the website of the “Relais Junior” and the partner schools’ websites, will also be used as dissemination media after the Meetings.

We are expecting manifold results :
– A scientific impact : acquisition of in-depth historical knowledge and research methodology.
– A civic impact : development of critical thinking ; reinforcement of democratic values ; confrontation with otherness.
– A linguistic impact : improvement of second-language skills.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 138960 Eur

Project Coordinator

LYCEE POLYVALENT DIDEROT DENIS & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Ulrichsgymnasium Norden
• Hertha Firnberg Schulen für Wirtschaft und Tourismus
• LYCEE MOLIERE
• A.R.J. BARA