The Shoah marked the cruelest page in history and, 77 years after the liberation of the Nazi extermination camp of Auschwitz, the era of the Culture of Hatred has not yet been defeated. Racism, bullying, homophobia, gender-based violence, crimes perpetrated in the name of religion, violation of human and civil rights, belong to a multi-generational language, now in common use, rampant in every geographical, cultural and political context, and whose roots are increasingly difficult to eradicate.

 

The Voice Of Memory (original title: La Voce Della Memoria) is a documentary that arises from this awareness of emergency and from the need to keep attention on the importance of listening and comparison, to allow reflection on the tools to be adopted to face and defeat this culture based on discrimination and on indifference.

By thoroughly investigating the Shoah, its history, causes and consequences, names, faces and experiences, it does not try to provide further answers that have not already been amply satisfied by historians and scholars in the sector, but urges the user , through the inheritance that Memory grants, to ask and ask oneself questions.

 

The Voice Of Memory makes use of the precious testimonies of: Vittorio Polacco and Emanuele Di Porto, survivors of the Roundup of the Ghetto in the Jewish Quarter of Rome; by Eva Geiringer Schloss, survivor of the Birkenau and Auschwitz extermination camps, half-sister of Anne Frank and co-founder (together with Otto Frank, Anne's father) of the British Association "Anne Frank Trust". They deepen and investigate the meaning and value Memory, with sensitivity and intellectual honesty: Amedeo Osti Guerrazzi, Historian and Researcher at the Foundation of the Museum of the Shoah in Rome; Lisa Shames, Head of Education at the Jewish Museum in London; Federica Pannocchia, founder and director of the Association "A Bridge For Anne Frank", as well as writer; Gillian Walnes Perry, co-founder of the "Anne Frank Trust", writer of numerous books on Anne Frank and speaker engaged in events, congresses and conferences with the highest offices in world level.

 

The participation of students and teachers, true guardians of History and Memory, opens a window on the need for dialogue, learning, education and comparison as a daily struggle against Indifference, as a path of knowledge to redeem, through an incessant work of education, dissemination and awareness, millions of lives broken by the brutality of the Culture of Hate and, consequently, reflect and discuss how to build an Anti-Hate Culture.

 

The Documentary was filmed between Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom, between July 2021 and March 2022 and completes an educational reportage, Auschwitz After Auschwitz, made from 2017 to 2021 between Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany.

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Leading the initiative of this Memory project, through a path of shared knowledge and understanding, will be the author of the documentary, Giuseppe Mazzola, photographer and documentary maker, passionate lover and connoisseur of this particular historical period. It will be with him, thanks to his sensitivity and experience, that the most exciting and significant correspondences will be deepened, which will constitute the moment of fruition and sharing of the Documentary and its deepening.

Giuseppe Mazzola will dedicate an in-depth space to the theme of the memory of the Shoah, the phenomenon of the culture of hatred and the role of education in protecting the memory and raising awareness of the new generations, taking into account the many initiatives in Italy and abroad.

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the seminar

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The Voice Of Memory is not just a documentary.

From its realization arises the need for a broader project that allows to deepen the themes of Anti-Semitism (and racism in general) and of the Culture of Hatred increasingly rampant among the new generations; for this reason, the constant reminder of young people, heirs of the Memory, to exhort them in the reflection of this culture and in the search for the necessary tools to oppose and defeat it is of concern.

It does this through knowledge of the facts, education and identification.

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The seminar makes use of a preliminary phase, in which Giuseppe Mazzola, author of the documentary project, will provide photographic material, of his own belonging, made in the Nazi extermination camps and in the places of Memory as a tool for in-depth study and preparation for the theme of the Memory of the Shoah.

This phase constitutes a necessary stage for the acquisition of tools for understanding the theme and preparation for viewing the Documentary (it is essential, in the case of students, that the educational path is undertaken and deepened with the teachers involved in the activity; however, a direct comparison with the author will be possible if his attention is required for clarification on the material provided).

 

From this preliminary phase will follow the creation of a written paper in which the subject, after having deepened the theme and chosen a photo, will be able to express an opinion, a thought, a state of mind, dictated by the study and the identification suggested by the chosen photograph.

All the material will be collected and viewed by the responsible teachers and by Giuseppe Mazzola and will form the content of a Contemporary Memory, collected in a digital book that will be edited and distributed by the author to all participants (in ebook / pdf format).

 

The Voice Of Memory - The Documentary constitutes the heart of the seminar and the last phase of its journey.

The screening of the film, lasting approximately 123 minutes and divided into two parts, develops in a meeting between author, participants and teachers, in which in addition to the viewing of the documentary, a debate will follow to expose opinions and ideas, to address the phenomenon of the Culture of Hatred and every form of racism connected to it.

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The seminar is aimed at associations, public and private bodies, conferences, congresses, didactic and preparatory activities, teachers, students of first and second grade secondary schools from all over the national and international territory, groups of scholars and enthusiasts of the historical theme. and cultural.

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Seminar Costs

Participation in the Seminar requires the payment of a fee for each individual participant, for a minimum number of 50 people; extra costs are borne by the body responsible for hosting the project.

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For more information on the project and on the costs of joining the Seminar and showing the Documentary, receive the information Press Kit in pdf format, request the organization of a conference, please contact the author through the CONTACT function.

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© 2022 Giuseppe Mazzola All Rights Reserved.

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