Older migrants, who came to the Netherlands in the 1960s and, for instance, worked at Melkunie and the Fokker factory, will tell their stories in the classroom. This is to highlight migrant life and bring history to the attention of schoolchildren. ‘Without them, the Dutch economy was never strong as it is today,’ said project initiator Sahin Yildirim.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Netherlands suffered a severe labour shortage. After first attracting guest workers from countries such as Italy, Spain, Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey, an influx of workers from Morocco emerged in the late 1960s.

‘Migrant elders have been through a lot. From a different country and culture, they set out to pioneer and build a better future. What was that like? What did they leave behind and what did they find in the Netherlands? The project ‘Life stories of migrant elderly in the classroom’ deals with stories of migrant elderly people and gives them a stage where they can be proud of their life stories. Through guest lessons in schools, we aim to introduce pupils/schoolchildren to the concept of ‘migration’ , ‘culture’, ‘heritage’ and the history of migrant elders from their city. We believe that telling these stories contributes to a sense of one’s own identity and that we live in a society of peace, solidarity and freedom,’ Sahin Yildirim said.

Lesson on migration

‘Through guest lessons in schools, we want to introduce pupils to the concept of migration and the history of migrant grandparents from their city. The children then interview these grandparents and their stories are recorded. The stories are thus given back to the elderly and shared as widely as possible with residents of the city,’ says Yildirim. ‘By capturing these migration stories, we bring our common history into focus and generate attention to migration in general and migrant elders in particular.’

As one of the largest and most important museums and memorial centres on the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) has an extensive range of educational materials on the Holocaust, both for online teaching and for use in the classroom. In addition to targeted lesson plans for every educational level, the museum’s website has an impressive Encyclopaedia of the Holocaust and hundreds of (primary) resources and photographs on the Holocaust are freely accessible, and translated into English where necessary.

The encyclopaedia contains all kinds of information, about people, places, events and developments. In a very accessible way, this information can be used via images, sound and video for both inside and outside the classroom.

The documentary “Auschwitz, our story” is available for screening in educational institutions!

Only teachers of educational institutions (highest grade primary and middle, secondary, higher education) can request access to a private section of the site, which includes the 40-minute documentary and the document with background information and an educational lesson with questions on two levels.

Are you a teacher? Don’t hesitate and request access by sending an email to onsverhaal@smolinski.nl from the school’s email account. Then you can view the content and use it in class. Do you already have a password? Then click here..

The documentary can also be found via the “Op School” menu.

N.B. Students who want to see more interviews or write a thesis can also be referred to the “Interviews” page on the website.

The documentary ‘Traces of the East Indies’ tells national history through local examples. Special teaching materials have been developed for use by schools nationwide.

Lesson Package Primary Education

Karlijn Naaijkens has developed a special lesson series for PO: three 30- to 40-minute lessons for groups 7 and 8.

Lesson Package Secondary education

Alex Heeringa developed the lesson package for secondary education: three 60-minute lessons for every level, to be adapted by the teacher, but usually suitable from 3 HAVO.

All teaching packages are designed by Evelien Kalberg.

ON TIME PATH

What are we going to do?

We are going on a time journey. In search of the past. You do this by interviewing your grandfather or grandmother or another elderly person. You will record the interview with a video camera. You will go on two trips with a fellow student. One time you will be the one asking the questions. Then your classmate will be the cameraman/woman. The second time it’s the other way round. The recordings you make can be kept in an archive. They might later be used to make written stories about the old days, or a film or a play. And when you are later as old as your grandfather is now, you can see and hear yourself in the old recording as a child, talking to that long-dead grandfather about the old days.

Why interview older people in the first place?

Of course, it’s fun to pretend to be a journalist for once. And you can hear very different things about the old days than you learn at school. About ordinary things like eating or falling in love. About life without a phone or computer. Sometimes, in an interview, you come across things that were told in history lessons but are only now coming to life for you. Because someone who experienced it tells about it himself. Then it suddenly seems as if you are there yourself. That you are travelling along on the timeline. You can ask what you want. Later in this booklet you will find some sample questions. You will notice that older people often like it very much when they can tell you how it used to be. This is how stories are passed on in the family.

In times when racism, anti-Semitism and polarisation are all around you, it is important to make these difficult topics discussable as early and well as possible. After the War therefore tells the family stories of World War II to children and young people to confront them with discrimination and dehumanisation on a large scale.  In such a way that the story gets under your skin, so to speak.

From the power of the personal story, our guest speakers make a link to contemporary social developments; in the world, the Netherlands, the classroom and with the students himself. Ultimately, it is about how the student relates to issues such as racism and polarisation. That is where we hold up a mirror to them.

In order for our guest speakers to be prepared, they develop their stories in text, form and image under professional guidance. During this process, which lasts more than four months, their presentation and teaching skills are trained.

A guest lesson at After the War consists of a visual story, a reflection in the form of a conversation/discussion and an active component.

Erf Goed! is a perfect tool for the elementary school teacher who wants to connect the classroom with the stories and emotions that heritage has to offer. Heritage education can be integrated into the existing classroom environment without great difficulty.

The book presents the teacher with a number of stimulating lesson suggestions. These suggestions are broken down by age group and by heritage domain.

Using the processing pages in the accompanying booklet Knip Goed!, students will come into contact with heritage.

The chapter “the domain of oral heritage” reflects on how to deal with oral heritage in the classroom.

Erf Goed! and Knip Goed! are initiatives of CANON, Heritage Day and Open Monument Day.

In the 1960s there was a lot of work in the Netherlands, but there were not enough people willing or able to do that work.  Dutch companies started looking for people in other countries such as Greece, Turkey and Morocco. They came here to do heavy work in factories or ports and were called guest workers. Nizar meets 11-year-old Dunya, whose grandfather came to the Netherlands as a guest worker. Meral sings a song about her grandfather, one of the first guest workers.

What was the occupation during the 1940s like for them? And after the liberation? An eyewitness tells the story.

For whom?
Group 7 and 8

Work format
An eyewitness tells his or her personal story about the Battle of Arnhem in the Airborne Museum or in the classroom. Telling eyewitnesses’ can only be booked in combination with the educational programme ‘Koffers vol verhalen’ (Boxes full of stories).

Duration
60 minutes

For whom?
First grade VMBO, HAVO and VWO

Work format
An eyewitness tells his or her personal story about the Battle of Arnhem in the Airborne Museum or in the classroom. Telling eyewitnesses’ can only be booked in combination with one of our educational programmes.

Duration
60 minutes

The pupils first get an interactive introduction about the Battle of Arnhem and then they go on an independent investigation with their suitcase in the museum. After the pupils have learned the story of their suitcase, they share their findings with each other. At the end of the lesson a visit is made to the Airborne Experience in the basement.

The lesson Suitcases full of Stories links up perfectly with the canonical window The Second World War.

For whom?
Group 5, 6, 7 and 8

Work format
Independent work, starting and ending together

Duration
Two hours including a visit to the Airborne Experience in the basement.

For whom
First grade VMBO, HAVO, VWO (NL/EN/TTO). Special Education? Please contact us.

Work format
Independent work after a common introduction, with common closure.

Duration
Two hours, including visit Airborne Experience.