On February 14, the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre(VHEC) is hosting the one-day ’12th Biennial Shafran Teachers’ Conference’. This year’s conference, entitled ‘Teaching the Holocaust: Multiple Perspectives and Best Practices in Holocaust Education’, focuses on providing teachers in various disciplines with new teaching resources to support Holocaust education in the classroom.
SCVN Co-Director Dr. Andrea Webb will be a presenter at the conference and will draw from her experience as a high school teacher, teacher educator, and researcher to support educators’ confidence and engagement in Holocaust education.
Dr. Webb has also developed the Educators’ Resource for the graphic novel ‘But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust’ and is leading the development of the teaching materials and educational resources for all of SCVN’s Research Clusters.
Thank you to the VHEC for hosting this event and we look forward Dr. Webb’s presentation!
Conference Details: Friday, February 14, 2025 8:30 am – 3:30 pm PDT Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre 950 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver 2nd Floor, Dayson Boardroom
Gallery of ‘Examining the Holocaust’ exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Images courtesy of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
In an upcoming webinar on January 29, Co-Director Dr. Andrea Webb will be discussing ways that educators can bring Holocaust education into the classroom with respect and consideration. She is joined by Ashley Groff, Interpretive Program Developer from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR), and institutional host of the webinar in collaboration with the Survivor‐Centred Visual Narratives Project. Webinar participants will be provided with resources that support Holocaust education, teaching about genocides, and teaching about human rights. They will also learn where to seek support and leave with tools to help them teach students Holocaust‐related content according to their provincial or territorial mandate.
“Supporting Educators in Holocaust Education” Wednesday, January 29, 2025 12:00 – 1:00 pm PST / 2:00 – 3:00 pm CST
We are honoured to announce that Barbara Yelin was awarded the annual Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize for children’s and young adult books by the State Office for Political Education in North Rhine-Westphalia for Emmie Arbel. The Colour of Memory. On November 29, 2024, Barbara was welcomed by Director of the Old Synagogue, Dr. Diana Matut, and the Mayor of Essen, Thomas Kufen, and presented with award by the Culture Minister, Ina Brandes, in Essen, Germany. Emmie Arbel also joined for the event, and participated in a reading with Barbara.
The Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize honors books that encourage children and young people to work for human rights, non-violent forms of conflict resolution, the integration of minorities and peaceful coexistence. It is the most important peace policy award for children’s and young adult literature in the German-speaking countries.
The prize was founded in 1982 and commemorates the former Federal President Dr. Gustav W. Heinemann, who gave special impetus to peace research and education.
Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize awards ceremony on November 29, 2024 at the Old Synagogue in Essen, Germany (photography by MKW NRW / Meike Schrömbgens and Roland Zerwinski).
In the SCVN webinar series, Art and Testimony, Ph.D. students Cal Smith and Raey Costain presented their research on how visual methods such as comic drawing have a unique capacity to explore and document human stories in the past and present. The webinar, The Art of Comics-Engaged Research, was moderated by Dr. Mary Chapman and involved active engagement by the attendees. The session began with a drawing exercise, lead by Raey, where they asked participants to doodle material related to what’s in front of them, what’s behind them, and where they’re sitting. The activity was designed to situate speakers and participants. Instructions for hosting or participating in the activity can be found below.
The webinar continued with Raey presenting on drawing as an artistic practice, both related to their personal drawings and the act of researching drawings done by others. After that, Cal shared part of his potential Ph.D. research on queer comics in Canada in the 1980s and 90s. He focused on the practice of research that has defined his early relationship with his Ph.D. Both speakers were intensely interested in what stories a doodle or a sketch can illuminate and the power of paying attention to the infinitesimally small details in such unassuming graphic narratives.
Raey’s activity is designed to situate speakers and participants. This activity is for everyone, no matter their drawing “talent” or experience! We would recommend underlining the sensations that go into drawing. Ask, “What does it feel like to pick up a pen and draw? What goes into finding inspiration? Where does your mind wander?” Mention that it’s ok to just breadth and reflect before putting the pen to the page.
Ask participants to grab something to draw with.
Draw three squares that are roughly the same size on a piece of paper. They can be vertical or horizontal.
In the first square, ask everyone to draw something ahead of you, i.e. something you can see in your environment. Maybe it’s the computer monitor or a coffee cup!
In the second square, ask everyone to draw something behind them. This can be physically behind them in their environment, or it can be understood more metaphorically as something behind them; something you’ve moved through, or someone, say, standing behind you.
In the final square, ask everyone to draw something related to where their feet are. This can also be taken literally or metaphorically. Maybe consider the territory you’re physically on, or, where your standing in life.
In a large group, the activity leader might say a few words reflecting on the activity. In a smaller group, you might invite others to reflect.
Finally, you may choose to invite people to share their work if they’re comfortable. There’s no pressure to do this, as the activity is principally a moment of personal reflection.
After a successful two-year run and exhibiting at four institutions, including the Stadtmuseum Erlangen, Dortmund schauraum comic + salon, Wiesbaden Kunsthaus, and Ravensbrück Memorial, the exhibition of “But I Live. Remembering the Holocaust” was hosted at it’s final location, the Erica-Fuchs-Haus Museum for Comics and the Art of Language, in Schwarzenbach a.d. Saale, Germany, from August 10 to November 17, 2024.
The exhibition was curated by Jakob Hoffmann and Barbara Yelin, and features the process of co-creation and original artwork by artists Barbara Yelin, Miriam Libicki, and Gilad Seliktar from the graphic novel But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust, based on interviews with Holocaust survivors Emmie Arbel, David Schaffer, and Nico and Rolf Kamp. The exhibit also includes sketches, reference materials, and quotes, with audio interviews and documentary films available in both German and in English.
On August 9, the exhibit officially opened with a presentation by graphic artist and exhibit co-curator Barbara Yelin presenting on the international visual narrative project and graphic novel. Travelling from Vancouver, Canada, on a research trip in Germany, graphic artist Miriam Libicki was also hosted by the museum for an in-person reading of But I Live on August 16.
Lastly, the Erica-Fuchs-Haus also welcomed Emmie Arbel, one of the Holocaust survivors sharing her story in the graphic novel, and her nephew, film director Pablo Ben Yakov, for a special screening of “Three Siblings” on November 16. Directed by Yakov, the film follows the stories of his uncle Menachem, aunt Emmie, and father Rudi as they each navigate their life after the Holocaust.
Thank you, Erica-Fuchs-Haus, for hosting this exhibition and the accompanying events!
Photographs by Dr. Joanna Straczowski, from the screening of “Three Siblings” on November 16, 2024.
On October 2 & 3, SCVN Co-Director Dr. Charlotte Schallié visited a ninth/tenth creative writing class at Victoria High School (Vic High). The students, guided by their creative writing teacher, Georgina Hope, participated in an interactive lesson that brought the testimonies from ‘But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust’ into the classroom. Through discussion of the book, Charlotte introduced the students to the ways that graphic novels can support learning by creating an emotional connection to the material.
Students at Vic High participating in a graphic narrative exercise. Image credit Charlotte Schallié.
‘But I Live’ brings together three graphic narratives that share the personal life journeys of Holocaust child survivors. These stories provide young readers with accessible and emotional insights into historical events, illuminating what it meant to survive the Holocaust as a child. By connecting with individual experiences, students were encouraged to see beyond facts and figures and understand history on a personal level.
This visit also incorporated a lesson plan from the educator’s resource created by Dr. Andrea Webb. This resource package is designed to support teachers in engaging a difficult topic such as the Holocaust, using graphic narratives as an entry point to explore context, events, and the consequences of historical trauma. This approach doesn’t simply inform—it empowers students and teachers to reflect on history and develop critical skills, such as empathy and historical awareness, which remain relevant to current societal challenges.
Some of the students later shared what they learned in their own words.
I think reading the book opened my eyes and I really felt the emotion of the book. The book was definitely a great read and I’m sure it broadened my understanding. The drawings were so well done, and the mute colours really make you feel the emotion in the book. I feel what Charlotte was talking about with the graphic novels is true. We definitely should be reading more graphic novels in high schools, because they’re easy to read, but get the point across right. I don’t feel graphic novels should be seen as childish most of the time because they carry deeper stories with good morals.
A person named Charlotte Schallié came to my class, she is a professor at UVic, and an author. She talked about how graphic novels are just as valuable as normal books. I would agree with this, I think that the pictures help portray a better story than words do. She also showed us some stuff on the holocaust. It was a graphic novel, and more specifically the process of making it. They talked to multiple holocaust survivors and had them tell their stories, in their own words and only what they wanted to say. I thought that was cool, because it seems more respectful to the holocaust survivor.
I have learned that the Holocaust has killed 6 million Jews. The injustices before, during, and after the Holocaust are innumerable. It’s sad to see such hate grow for so long and so intensely. I’ve had fun with the graphic novel project, and I enjoyed the Survivors theatre production. It’s awesome to see the Holocaust explained in a compelling way, in a way that encourages readers and viewers to be in the experiences of those we read about or watch.
I have never learned about the Holocaust until this project. I found it fascinating but also so emotional to learn about. I can’t imagine what it would have been like in that time. When Charlotte Schallié came into the classroom and told us more facts and stories about the Holocaust it was fascinating. My favourite part about this project though, was the play. I enjoyed watching the good acting, and it was a more fun way to learn about this devastating event in history. People need to know. I think that this should be learned about in class more and it was a good way to learn about it through graphic novels. The Anne Frank graphic novel, I found personally, is really hard to read, but it was good all the same.
The students participated actively, exploring graphic narratives as a storytelling medium and recognizing the power of personal narrative within historical contexts. Charlotte’s visit demonstrated how art and personal testimony can bridge generations, creating a meaningful connection to the past. Thank you to Georgina and class for your engagement with ‘But I Live.’ Experiences such as this class visit emphasize the potential wide-ranging impact of the graphic novels created by the SCVN project.
On October 29, graphic artist Barbara Yelin and SCVN Co-Director Dr. Charlotte Schallié will be featured in a public online webinar as part of the 27th Workshop on National Socialist Camps and Killing Sites. Barbara and Charlotte will be reading from the publication ‘But I Live: Three Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust.’ This webinar and the other workshop activities are geared towards young scholars who are interested in working with stories and histories of camps and killing sites associated with genocide and mass atrocity worldwide.
In addition to reading from ‘But I Live,’ Charlotte and Barbara will engage in a dialogue about trauma-informed storytelling and the compelling power of drawing as a language to communicate about stories of memory, trauma, and resilience. The visual testimony of Holocaust child survivor Emmie Arbel, collected in ‘But I Live’ by Barbara Yelin is one example of how visual arts can be engaged in Holocaust education and communication.
Event Details:
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
5:00 pm CET /11:00 am PDT
Sweelinckzaal, Room 0.05, Utrecht University, Drift 21, 3512 BR Utrecht or online via zoom
From July 4-6, our project partners at the Institute for the Performing Arts and Film at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) hosted an interdisciplinary arts-based research incubator for scholars, artists, storytellers and educators who joined us from Canada, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Israel and Cameroon. This interdisciplinary exchange included graphic artists from the Survivor-Centred Visual Narratives (SCVN) Project, who were invited to share insights from their ongoing collaborative memory work with survivors of genocide.
Participant sketching. Image credit Charlotte Schallié.
Day 1 began with a presentation by SCVN co-director Dr. Charlotte Schallié titled ‘Developing an Ethics of Care Framework in Arts-based Research with Genocide Survivors.’ Following this, a comic drawing workshop, co-facilitated by graphic novelist Barbara Yelin and Charlotte Schallié, guided participants through weaving their artistic practice with visual storytelling and historical research. Throughout the day, participants drew, collaborated, and discussed the role of memory, dialogue, responsibility, and reciprocity in artistic practice and research. Many questions emerged. For example, how can drawing as a research practice and creative tool of scientific inquiry encourage new ways of retelling histories and life narratives? What stories surface when drawings and text elements enter a space of dialogue? How can we envision the empty space in-between panels as sites of fragmented or disjointed memory?
Sketches from Zurich workshops. Image credit Charlotte Schallié.
On Day 2, workshop participants gained insights into the practices, approaches, and questions emerging from the SCVN project. An urban drawing session—led by Miriam Libicki—and a reading by Barbara Yelin from her book ‘Emmie Arbel. The Colour of Memory’ brought forward ways to incorporate arts-based research methods into scholarship, teaching, creative practice, and community-based care work.
Barbara Yelin and Gilad Seliktar. Image credit Charlotte Schallié.
“What stories surface when drawings and text elements enter a space of dialogue? How can we envision the empty space in-between panels as sites of fragmented or disjointed memory?”
Day 3 held space for SCVN graphic artists to discuss how team members can continue to facilitate a community of mutual care and support across all five project-based research clusters. It served as a platform to address unresolved questions. Given the collaborative nature of the working relationships and the diverse realities and circumstances of the internationally based artists, it was invaluable to meet in person and develop a dialogue around the archiving of memory.
Participants at Zurich workshop. Image credit Charlotte Schallié.
A key insight from the conference and workshop was the recognition that action of gathering in a designated space for mutual learning is crucial and should be institutionalized on an annual basis. This approach is essential for fostering a dialogic relationship and establishing a solid foundation for the Community of Care needed by the SCVN project. The questions posed to the artists on the third day, such as “What does a Community of Care mean to you?” and “What resources or support do you need to continue contributing to the project?” were systematically recorded and documented. Notably, it emerged that listening and allowing space for expression are inevitable components of research projects engaging genocide and mass atrocities. Based on the responses and the comprehensive documentation from the three days, the SCVN research project can refine and optimize the design and structure of future meetings to enhance the collaborative experience.
We would like to thank to all participants who joined us to share a diversity of perspectives, experiences, and creative approaches to engage with histories and life narratives.
From June 18-20, our project partners from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Turtle Island Research Cluster hosted a three-day Annual General Meeting around the theme of ‘Landed Learning and Indigenous Ways of Knowing’. Artists and team leadership from Canada, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States, gathered with us on the unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people. At a pre-meeting event hosted by the German Consulate, artist Tobi Dahmen presented his recent publication, Columbusstrasse, to an engaged and enthusiastic audience. Artist Anneli Furmark also spoke to students in the UBC Nordic Studies program about her work with comics and graphic novels.
Anneli Furmark presenting to UBC students. Image credit Charlotte Schallié.
On Day 1 of the AGM, participants joined Dr. Eduardo Jovel for a presentation on Landed Learning at the xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden in the UBC Farm. With an emphasis on teaching, learning, and research, xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden serves educational and research needs related to Indigenous knowledge and its intersections with other ways of knowing; our group learned about land as teacher and food as medicine. In the afternoon, Dr. Shannon Leddy guided participants through an art-making workshop, reflecting on visual storytelling and land-based approaches to learning. SCVN data director, Dr. Matt Huculak also gave a presentation on archiving arts-based research to the project artists.
xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden. Image credit Raey Costain.
xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden. Image credit Raey Costain.
Sketch at xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Garden. Image credit Miriam Libicki.
Art making workshop with Andrea Webb (left) and Shannon Leddy (right), June 19, 2024. Image credit Charlotte Schallié.
Participants exploring the interactive database at the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre. Image credit Raey Costain.
On Day 2, participants gained insights into the practices and approaches of Indigenizing testimony collection and Indigenous data sovereignty with a presentation from Kristin Kozar, director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre. Following this, Duncan McCue facilitated a reflection on traumatic testimony and survivor-centred engagement, providing the opportunity for project members to share their experiences and learn from one another.
Though not scheduled activities, the artists and scholars who gathered for the AGM took frequent opportunities to spend time on the beautiful beaches and walkways that surround UBC. They also attended graphic artist Mangeshig Pawis-Steckely’s exhibit opening at the Slice of Life gallery on June 20, 2024.
Project members gathered on the beach. Image credit Matt Huculak. Project members attending Mangeshig Pawis-Steckely’s gallery opening at Slice of Life on June 20, 2024. Image credit Jennifer Sauter.
We would like to express our deep gratitude to all participants for their willingness to experience land-based approaches and share their diverse perspectives as they continue to work with survivors in creating visual narratives of testimony. We hope that our annual meetings provide opportunities for community and connection, supporting future arts-based research and acknowledging the important work created thus far.
