Quest. Issues in Contemporary Jewish History (Aug 2018)
Wikishtetl: Commemorating Jewish Communities that Perished in the Holocaust through the Wikipedia Platform
Abstract
This article presents a new and developing direction in teaching Holocaust remembrance and commemoration through online means, which was developed as part of a course for voluntary professional development for educators at the Center for Holocaust Studies (in collaboration with the Professional Development Unit) at the Jerusalem College (‘Michlalah Jerusalem’). The program provides participants with tools in the field of history, genealogy, and writing and editing tools for Wikipedia. The program participants open a user account on Wikipedia, and create an entry on a community that was annihilated in the Holocaust, with an emphasis on combining the participants’ personal and family knowledge with the general history of the community. Through this means, a communal mosaic of life, hope, and dreams, as well as of individuals within a community, is brought to public memory. This article presents the conclusions of the program as it was applied to educators, as well as ideas for how to apply it with high school students.
