In partnership with the Ústi Region and its Representation in Brussels, the European Parliament, the Czech Center in Brussels, the Jewish Museum in Prague, and the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union, ESLI hosted the exhibition “Don’t Lose Faith in Mankind … the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia through the Eyes of Jewish Children” and its accompanying program in Brussels from November 19 to December 3, 2010. In addition to remembering the Holocaust and the history of the Terezín Ghetto, the exhibition was hosted as a means to introduce ESLI and in particular Terezín, where the Institute is now based, and in connection with the launch of the city’s revitalization project “Terezín – the Revitalization of Historical Landmarks” as well as to contribute to the discussion at the EU government level on the restitution of property confiscated during the period of the Holocaust and on growing extremism in European society.
These goals were presented on Terezín Commemoration Day on May 16, 2010. The participation of the Institute in this project came about after discussions in October 2009 between the Ústi Region, the project’s main organizer, and representatives of the Preparatory Committee for Establishing the European Shoah Legacy Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. As the exhibition was created, the Institute served primarily as coordinator of the individual partner organizations and expert consultants.
The ceremonial opening of the exhibition was held at the European Parliament on November 16, 2010, and was attended by the Czech Republic’s ambassador to the European Union, Milena Vicenová, the Czech Republic’s Ambassador to Belgium, Vladimír Miller, delegates of the Israeli embassy and Deputies of the Permanent Representations of the Member States to the European Union, Governor of the Ústi Region, Jana Vaňhová, and Member of the European Parliament, Richard Falbr, whose office was the official sponsor of the exhibition. The Chairman of the Institute’s Administrative Board, Tomáš Kosta, a Holocaust survivor, spoke at the opening ceremony about his experiences in the Terezín Ghetto while also praising the level of cooperation with the Ústi Region and the municipality of Terezín.
Through authentic materials such as diary entries, correspondences, photographs, children’s drawings, magazines, and the fates of six specific Jewish children and their families, the exhibition acquainted viewers with the events of the years 1938 to 1945, and specifically with the life in the Terezín Ghetto and the Auschwitz concentration camp, but also with the postwar fates of the main protagonists. Three days after its completion, the exhibition relocated to the Czech Center in Brussels, which also included an auxiliary program in the form of a mini-festival under the heading “Jewish Czech Crossroads, 1939-1945” that offered visitors three films: Alfréd Radok’s Distant Journey; Diamonds of the Night by Jan Němec; and Divided We Fall by Jan Hřebejk.
On the evening before the end of the exhibition, a panel discussion was held on current Holocaust issues after the showing of the final film, in which experts and representatives of the Jewish communities in the Czech Republic and Belgium participated. The exhibition and its program attracted over 500 visitors.
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