On 12 and 13 July 2013 the first seminar organized under the project "Chased and free. The escape across the Pyrenees of Jewish refugees and Allies during the Second World War" was held in the village of Sort, in the Catalan region of Pallars Sobirà.
One of the objectives of the project is to publicize the role of the Pyrenees as a place of refuge to thousands of people fleeing the Nazi terror during World War II. In Catalonia, we should mention the work done in this field in Pallars Sobirà. Since 2000 the Town Hall of Sort has been carrying out an important task to retrieve that episode and make it known by turning into museum its former prison, which handled about 3,000 escaped. This museum space opened in 2007 and it is complemented by various signalling pathways that run through cross-border roads which hundreds of escapees used for fleeing the Nazi barbarism. For this reason it was decided to perform the first seminar in Sort.
This activity benefited from the collaboration of the following institutions:
Memorial Democràtic, Ajuntament de Sort, Diputació de Lleida, Consell Comarcal del Pallars Sobirà, Ajuntament de Les, Ecomuseu de les Valls d'Àneu, Parc Natural de l'Alt Pirineu, Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs, Universitat de Barcelona, Universitat de Lleida , ICRESS Institut Catalan de Recherche en Sciences Sociales in Perpignan and Casa Sefarad-Israel.
The program of the day (12/7) was as follows:
12:00 h. Reception and Welcome by Mr Llàtzer Sibis, Mayor of Sort and Chairman of the Consell Comarcal del Pallars Sobirà
12.10 h. Greetings from the representatives of Memorial Democràtic (Mr. Jordi Palou-Loverdos), Casa Sefarad-Israel (Miguel Lucas) ICRESS Catalan Institute for Research in Social Sciences (Ms Martine Camiade), Diputació de Lleida (Ms Rosa Pujol) and Diputació de Barcelona (Ms Rosa Serra)
12:35 h. Presentation of the project "Chased and free. The escape across the Pyrenees of Jewish refugees and Allies during the Second World War”, by Rosa Serra, project coordinator and coordinator of Local Area Economic Development at Diputació de Barcelona
13:00 h. The memory recovery of the escape of World War II refugees at Sort, by Josep Calvet, historian and technician at Memorial Democràtic
14:00 h. Lunch
17:00 h. The museum project of the prison-museum "Paths to Freedom", by Conxita Mir, professor of Contemporary History at University of Lleida.
17:30 h. Border and evasion networks in Pallars, by Ignasi Ros, from Ecomuseu de les Valls d'Àneu and Naomi Riudor, researcher
18:00 h. Pause
18:15 h. The Alt Pirineu Natural Park and the management of a border territory, by Agustín López, president of the Alt Pirineu Natural Park
18:30 h. Signalling cross-border pathways in the Alt Pirineu Natural Park, by Marc Garriga, technician at the Alt Pirineu Natural Park
19:00 h. Presentation of the project "Les: A transit area of Jewish refugees during the Second World War”, by Emili Medan, Mayor of Les, and Mireia Boya, associate professor at Department of Humanities at UPF and member of Les Hemnes Association
19:30 h. Discussion and conclusions
The next day, July 13, the group visited the prison-museum "Paths to Freedom" accompanied by Josep Calvet, historian and technician at Memorial Democràtic.
The seminar was an opportunity to present projects of different institutions around this topic. Multiple perspectives were thus given on the issue of refugees fleeing from Spain and the role of border villages and the city of Barcelona concerning the refugees to be sheltered.
It was therefore a good opportunity to pool studies and data, share concerns and issues and draw research lines and future projects all together.
Seminar in Paris (September 22 to 23, 2013)
On 22 and 23 September 2013 the second seminar organized under the project "Chased and free. The escape across the Pyrenees of Jewish refugees and Allies during the Second World War" was held in Paris.
After the seminar that took place in Sort in July, the second activity scheduled was a training trip to meet the experience and career of one of the international partners of the project: the Shoah Memorial in Paris.
A visit to a new home of the Shoah Memorial in Drancy was also included in the program. This new building, opened in 2012, is set up in the place that worked as a concentration camp in 1942. From there, the inmates were deported to extermination camps.
Finally, the group visited the Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme that since 1998 works to raise awareness of the history of the French Jewish community, as well as preserve collections, archives and data collections from Jewish families and disseminate different artistic expressions related to Jewish culture.
The program of the study days, held in collaboration with partner Shoah Memorial and focused on the topic of how to convey the history of the Holocaust, was as follows:
Monday, September 23
9:00 h. Welcome to the Shoah Memorial
9:30 h. Visit to the Holocaust Memorial, by Alban Perrin, trainer at the Shoah Memorial and teacher at Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Bordeaux
11:00 h. Pause
11:15 h. How to teach the Holocaust history?, by Christopher Tarricone, history and geography teacher
13:00 h. Lunch
14.30 h. Presentation of the educational activities at the Shoah Memorial, by Claude Singer and Marini Bambi
15:30 h. Pause
15:45 h. Presentation of the Holocaust archives by Karen Taieb, archive director at the Shoah Memorial
Tuesday, September 24
9:00 h. The Shoah Memorial, How to teach the Holocaust to children? Presentation of the website "Sarah's attic", by Barbara Mellul, educator at the Shoah Memorial and Adeline Salmon, educational consultant at the Shoah Memorial
11:00 h. Guided tour to MAHJ by Philippe Boukara, educator at the Shoah Memorial
13:00 h. Lunch
14:30 h. Departure to Drancy by bus
15:30 h. Visit to the former concentration camp in Drancy, by Alban Perrin
16:30 h. Free tour to the permanent exhibition at Memorial in Drancy
17:30 h. Departure to the airport Roissy-Charles de Gaulle by bus
The trip offered the opportunity to learn about the activities at partner Shoah Memorial, specialized in training issues related to the Shoah.
The different sessions and visits allowed seeing up close the settings of some of the hardest episodes of Jewish persecution during World War II in the city of Paris. The visit to the new Memorial in Drancy aroused a great interest.
Seminar in Berlin (November 25 to 27, 2013)
On 25, 26 and 27 November 2013 the third seminar organized under the project "Chased and free. The escape across the Pyrenees of Jewish refugees and Allies during the Second World War" was held in Berlin.
After the seminars that took place in Sort in July and in Paris in September, the third activity scheduled was a training trip to meet the experience and career of one of the international partners of the project: the Topography of Terror Memorial.
The Topography of Terror Memorial is an institution with an international reputation in the field of memorial work since its objective is to transmit historical information on the National Socialism and its crimes.
This institution is one of the most visited memory places in Berlin: 900,000 visitors attended in 2012.
The program included working sessions designed to meet the exhibitions, work and objectives of the Topography of Terror Memorial, besides sharing knowledge. Complementary activities and visits were organized to learn about other projects and memory spaces in the city of Berlin.
The program of the study days was as follows:
Monday, November 25
9.00 h. Visit to the Memorial to Homosexuals and Sinti and Roma Memorial
9:30-10:30 h. Visit to the Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Denkmal Stiftung) and explanation about the audiovisual file project with witnesses by staff at Memorial
11:30 h. Jewish Museum Session: "The Jews and the Third Reich"
13:00 h. Meeting with Ms Monika Flores, curator of the permanent exhibition
14.00 h. Lunch at museum cafe
15:30 h. Visit to the interpretation project of the square in Schöneberg district, "Orte des Erinners", and the old Jewish quarter
18:30 h. Visit to the exhibition at Otto Weidt's Museum and Workshop for blinds
20:30 h. Dinner
Tuesday, November 26
10-12 h. Visit to the installations and exhibitions at Topography of Terror Memorial, by Iliana Sánchez Roa
12-13:30 h. Seminar with Ms. Elke Gryglewski from Haus der Wannsee - Conference on the following topic: How has Germany dealt with the issue of memory?
15:15 - 17 h. Working session (Topography of Terror)
Thomas Lutz, director of Topography of Terror Memorial, presents the institution and reflects on how Germany has dealt with the memory issue in recent decades.
Josep Calvet: Franco's government and the Holocaust
Marta Simón: The Blue Division and Spanish workers in Nazi Germany and their encounter with the Holocaust, especially in Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union
Mireia Boya: The transmission of memory and witnessing
Wednesday, November 27
9:00 h. Transfer from hotel to the concentration camp in Sachsenhausen (minibus)
10:00 h. Guided tour to the Museum and Memorial at Sachsenhausen concentration camp, by Iliana Sánchez Roa
12:30 h. Transfer to airport
The trip offered the opportunity to learn about the activities at partner Topography of Terror Memorial, specialized in transmitting the memory and studying the Nazi period from the point of view of perpetrators.
The different sessions and visits allowed seeing up close the settings of some of the hardest episodes of Jewish persecution during World War II in the city of Berlin. Several activities aroused a special interest: working sessions at Memorial and the Sachsenhausen concentration camp by Ms Iliana Sánchez Roa, the meeting discussion by Mr Thomas Lutz, the encounter with Ms Monika Flores, curator of the permanent exhibition at Jewish Museum in Berlin and the workshop about how Germany dealt with memory issues by Ms Elke Gryglewski.
Barcelona, 17 i 18 de març de 2014 - Sala Martí l’Humà del Museu d’Història de Barcelona
Dilluns, 17 de març de 2014
9.30 h Benvinguda
Salvador Esteve i Figueras, president de la Diputació de Barcelona
Moderadora: Conxita Mir, catedràtica d’Història Contemporània de la Universitat de Lleida
10 h Xavier Boltaina Bosch, doctor en dret. «L’holocaust: el dret al “servei” del genocidi»
10.30 h Jacques Fredj, director del Mémorial de la Shoah de París. «Écrire l’histoire et préserver la mémoire»
11 h Thomas Lutz, director de Topography of Terror Foundation de Berlín. «Documentation and architectural symbolization of the dealing with Nazi-perpetrators centre in Berlin»
11.30 h Alexandre Doulut, historiador del Mémorial du Camp de Rivesaltes. «Rivesaltes, le Drancy de zone libre, 1942»
12 h Pausa
12.20 h Marta Simó, sociòloga i membre del grup de treball Holocaust, exili deportació. «El holocausto en el este de Europa»
12.50 h Bernd Rother, director adjunt de la Willy Brandt Foundation. «España y el holocausto. Los judíos españoles atrapados en Europa»
13.20 h Eduardo Martín de Pozuelo, periodista i investigador. «El franquismo y el holocausto»
13.55 h Debat i preguntes
Moderadora: Maria Josep Estanyol, doctora en filologia semítica i professora de la Universitat de Barcelona
16 h Rosa Toran, doctora en història i membre de l’Amical Mauthausen i d’altres camps. «Els republicans, víctimes després de l’alliberament»
16.30 h Yéssica San Román, directora del Departament de l’Holocaust i Antisemitisme del Centro Casa Sefarad-Israel. «El paso de refugiados a Suiza»
17 h Josep Calvet, doctor en història, tècnic del Memorial Democràtic i membre del grup de treball Holocaust, exili i deportació. «Les muntanyes de la llibertat. L’entrada dels refugiats a Espanya»
17.30 h Debat i preguntes
18.45 h Capella de Santa Àgata
Presentació a càrrec de l’Il∙lm. Sr. Jaume Ciurana Llevadot, regidor de Cultura, Coneixement, Creativitat i Innovació de l’Ajuntament de Barcelona
19 h Oren Bar-El, ministre-conseller de l’Ambaixada d’Israel a Espanya. «La importancia de recordar el holocausto»
19.15 h Haim Avni, professor de la Universitat de Jerusalem. «Entre Portbou y Barcelona: La salvación de judíos entre 1940-1944»
Dimarts, 18 de març de 2014
Moderadora: Marta Alòs, coordinadora de Cultura de la Diputació de Barcelona
9.30 h Maria Josep Estanyol, doctora en filologia semítica i professora de la Universitat de Barcelona. «La petjada dels jueus a Catalunya des de l’època medieval fins a l’actualitat»
10 h Manu Valentín, de la plataforma Mozaika. «L’arribada de jueus a Barcelona durant els anys trenta»
10.30 h Josep Calvet, doctor en història, tècnic del Memorial Democràtic i membre del grup de treball Holocaust, exili i deportació. «Refugiats a Barcelona: la tasca de l’AJDC i Samuel Sequerra»
11 h Pausa
11.30 h Rosa Serra, coordinadora de Desenvolupament Econòmic Local de la Diputació de Barcelona. «El projecte “Perseguits i salvats: la fugida de refugiats jueus durant la II Guerra Mundial a través dels Pirineus i de Barcelona”»
12 h Jordi Algué, documentalista. «Presentació de la recerca iconogràfica»
12.30 h Dalia Levinsohn i Dory Sontheimer Heilbruner, testimonis del projecte «Perseguits i salvats. La fugida de refugiats jueus durant la II Guerra Mundial a través dels Pirineus i de Barcelona»
13.30 h Projecció de l’audiovisual
14 h Debat i preguntes
Moderadora: Martine Camiade, proressora d’Història Contemporània de la Universitat de Perpignan i directora de l’Institut Català de Recerca en Ciències Socials (ICRESS)
16 h Mireia Boya, investigadora de la Universitat Pompeu Fabra. «Memòria oral del pas d’evadits jueus per la Vall d’Aran»
16.30 h Victor Sörenssen i Manu Valentín, de Mozaika. «Projecte Verbannung. El exilio judeoalemán en Barcelona (1933-1945)»
16.50 h Guy Séris, de l’Association Le Chemin de la Liberté. «Projeté La Maison du Chemin de la Liberté de Saint Girons (France)»
17.10 h Llàtzer Sibís, president del Consell Comarcal del Pallars Sobirà i alcalde de Sort. «Projecte La presó-museu de Sort»
17.30 h Nathalie Fourcade, directora del projecte del Mémorial du Camp de Rivesaltes. «Le projet de Rivesaltes»
17.50 h Debat i preguntes
18.10 h Diàleg entre Vicenç Villatoro, periodista i escriptor, i Jaume Reyner, jurista. El modera Rosa Serra, coordinadora del projecte
19.15 h Debat i preguntes
19.30 h Cloenda
Joan Carles Garcia Cañizares, diputat adjunt a la Presidència i president delegat de Cultura de la Diputació de Barcelona, Jordi Palou-Loverdos, director del Memorial Democràtic, i Joan Roca, director del Museu d’Història de Barcelona (MUHBA)
Audiovisual presentation: "Chased and free: A project of oral memory"
While research stage, contacts with Jewish community in Barcelona were made and that permitted to identify 10 witnesses whose biographies and family histories were related to the experience of escaping from countries invaded by Nazis and going across the Pyrenees, the city of Barcelona providing shelter, the transmission of family memories and the situation of Spain and Barcelona during World War II.
From recorded material an audiovisual production in every-day language has been conducted to summarize the values and contents of the research.
