Holocaust Education Events -Help us Make Their Memory Shine!

Ethan Bergman is organizing this fundraiser.

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WHO

Hello! we are raising funds for the unique 'Make Their Memory Shine ' movement. A Jewish student-led Holocaust Education effort which brings people of all backgrounds to commemorate the past while also fighting ignorance between each other. We want to bridge the past with creating a better future. We desire to use commemoration and education as tools for a better European society. Holocaust awareness is disturbingly low in Europe and our group has found a unique and pro-active way to promote Holocaust Education for the next generation. We are a core group of 6 volunteers yet have cooperated with over 500 people for actual events.

The movement predominantly goes around Europe and maintains the 100.000 Stumbling Stones in multicultural groups. Most stones for victims cannot be read, with their legacies and lessons wiped away.Many get vandalized and most have never been cleaned . We ensure that thousands of stones get to shine collectively, catching the eyes of volunteers and city dwellers . This is a pro-active and unique form of commemoration, for which around 7000 stones have already been cleaned.

We also facilitate their placements. After 3 years, such commemoration events were organized by students in 89 cities across 23 countries. This ranges from Oslo and Mallorca to Thessaloniki and Rome. With most such events, we also organize workshops on education or lectures with professors, Holocaust survivors, different communities etc.

Lastly, we also post unique educational material on social media, attracting thousands of accounts in a unique engaging manner which could spawn the future of Holocaust education on social media.

We have been featured in large publications and newspapers, examples of which can be found below alongside some pictures of our prestations.

WHY

We want to offer a solution to the shocking lack of effective and inclusive Holocaust awareness in the streets of Europe, expanding our abilities, operations and efforts aids in ensuring that the current and next generation is not only aware of what happened in our streets, but also to effectively absorb the lessons of hatred and its consequences.

MTMS had relied on small personal funds of the individuals involved, and the occasional sponsor, and we consider it to a movement, in which everyone can contribute with ideas, initiatives or funds. After 3 years as volunteers, we would like to open up for donations to keep our movement thriving and crowd-sourced to survive and operate. We would like to use funding for expansion and to truly make a change for Holocaust education from Belgium and Spain to Greece and Poland. After years of using small funds, our ideas and goals have broadened. This is why we decided to fundraise.

MTMS lacks the funds to stay operational across Europe and maintain Holocaust memorials or organize larger educational events. To add, we require funds to aid in the placement of new stones or fund Holocaust-related initiatives.

Prior Events

Brussels - Commemoration & Lecture at Jewish Museum alongside Roma leaders, Holocaust survivors, scouts and the Mayor. (C: European Jewish Association)
Trieste - Through the Italian Union of Young Jews, placement of the first ever stone for a Roma person in Italy. (C: UGEI)
Mallorca - Involvement of high school students in cleaning and learning as part of a school project (C: Jewish Mallorca).
Berlin - Workshop ''Debunking Holocaust Denial 101'' followed by a cleaning of Stones.
Bratislava - City tour of WWII history with children of survivors, in which stones were cleaned (C: Maccabi Bratislava).
Luxembourg City - Lecture in schools about Holocaust awareness.
Belgrade - Cleaning & Workshop on awareness duty (C: JOK Beograd)
Amsterdam - Cleaning stones with Muslim refugees followed by a gathering (C: StandWithUs).
Etc.

BUDGET

As student volunteers, the Budget is crucial to stay afloat. Many have used their own funds, however, such is unsustainable following years of activism.

If you donate, you will be aiding:

Finance the research, and placement, of new stones.
Assist in organizing Holocaust Education event across Europe through speakers, educational bookets etc.
Finance the creation of unique infographics on lesser-known aspects of the Holocaust.
Aid the volunteers in traveling to destinations featuring stones, yet, without local communities to assist.
Finance the purchasing of cleaning materials.
Assist in constructing a database of stones (work in progress)

We thank you wholeheartedly for considering a donation. Thank you for helping us Make Their Memory Shine.

-Ethan Gabriel Bergman, Founder

Media & Links

Instagram

Website

YNET Article

TOI Article

Jewish Chronicle Article

Voria Greece Article

RTV Netherlands Video

TG1 Italy Video

Bruzz Belgium Article

WZDS Netherlands Article

SPECIAL

Reach out to us for maintenance requests and any questions you have about the Stumbling Stones/ How to clean them! Would you like us in your city? Send us a PM!

-Ethan Bergman, Founder and Executive Director