This project involves creation of Holocaust museums in public schools and colleges in Ukraine. We pick an educational institution that is located within a short walking distance from a place where the Jews were killed. Our educational activities include excursions to the place of massacre, making a museum material real and not theoretical.
For students from other cities and nearby villages we organize bus trips to the museums and memorials where they have educational and commemoration events.
A few words about our research and artifacts used in the museums: we focus on the local Shoah events and use rare, archival materials from major museums like United States Holocaust Museum and Israel’s Yad Vashem Museum as well as from other sources. All information is being analyzed and verified. High school students work as guides in our school museums.
Segue into History
The first Jews in Fastiv (now Kyev region), settled in the 15th century. The number of Jews was growing and by the 20th century, more than 3 thousand Jews lived in Fastiv, which is quite significant for a small town.
Fastiv was occupied by the Nazis on July 20, 1941 and they immediately began mass executions of Jews. For almost two years of occupation, about 1000 Jews were massacred in Fastiv.
Project Description
The Holocaust Museum in Fastiv’s School # 4 began with a small memorial corner. The topic of the Holocaust, the students of the school began to study long before they got acquainted with our organization. Wishing to support schoolchildren in their quest to learn the truth about the Holocaust, we created the museum on the school grounds.
School #4 was chosen not by chance – just a few steps from the school there is one of the places of mass murder of Jews in Fastiv. According to historians, 360 Jews were murdered there. Schoolchildren have taken upon themselves the cleaning of the burial place and holding commemoration events.
