International Project STAND UP

International Project STAND UP – STANDING UP FOR REMEMBRANCE: Testimonies from the Past as Lessons for the Present – Holocaust and Human Rights Education through Oral History

The National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia is participating in the international project Standing Up for Remembrance: Testimonies from the Past as Lessons for the Present – Holocaust and Human Rights Education through Oral History (STAND UP).

The project brings together teachers and individuals from educational institutions across six partner countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Hungary and Serbia) with the aim of creating video excerpts and lesson plans based on testimonies from the archives of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) and from the Oral history collection of the National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia.

The acronym “S.T.A.N.D. U.P.” represents the core message of our project, emphasizing the importance of standing up against injustice and learning from history. Each letter stands for a key aspect of the project’s mission:

S – Storytelling: Highlighting the power of testimonies.
T – Teaching: Educating about the Holocaust.
A – Awareness: Increasing awareness of the atrocities committed.
N – Never Again: Reinforcing the commitment to prevent similar atrocities.
D – Dialogue: Encouraging open discussions and conversations about the Holocaust.
U – Understanding: Promoting empathy and understanding of the Holocaust survivors’ experiences.
P – Preservation: Preserving oral history for future generations.

The project also involves the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), which holds one of the largest collections of Holocaust testimonies, and the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Its goal is to collect and prepare educational materials in each partner country, which history teachers, under the guidance of project partners, then develop into lesson plans to be implemented in schools. Over 100 teachers and more than 2,000 students from partner countries are involved. In the next phase, young people from the Anne Frank Youth Network will also participate, educating students further on this topic through a “Students for Students” approach.

The project consists of several phases: it began with webinars on 27–28 May 2025, followed by in-person weekend seminars in Šabac (10–12 October 2025), Budapest (17–19 October 2025), and Ljubljana (21–23 November 2025). Based on testimonies from the Second World War, participants developed different lesson plans, which will be implemented in schools across all partner countries. The final seminar in this series will take place in Berlin (23–25 January 2026). Various follow-up activities will continue in partner countries.

The project is led by HERMES – Croatian Network for Development and Evolution of Communication. More information about the project can be found at: https://hermes.hr/standup/