Genia Silkes – The Work Of A Pedagogue At The Central Committee Of Polish Jews And The Jewish Historical Institute In Post-War Poland
Genia Silkes – The Work Of A Pedagogue At The Central Committee Of Polish Jews And The Jewish Historical Institute In Post-War Poland

Summary/Abstract: The article is about the psychological and pedagogical work of the Jewish teacher Genia Silkes in the immediate post-war period in Poland. during the war, Silkes taught at various underground schools in the Warsaw ghetto, attempting to carry on her pedagogical work. after liberation, Silkes played a role in the reestablishment of Jewish life in Poland. On april 1, 1945, she started to work in Łódź at the Central Committee of Jews in Poland (CkŻwP) in its department for Childcare. in 1945, together with noe Grüss, she published a study under the title “instructions concerning the examination of experiences of Jewish children during the German occupation”. in it, she developed a psychological and methodological guideline, which could be followed during interviews of Jewish children, who survived the Holocaust. The experiences portrayed could then be recorded by trained personnel. in doing so, it was attempted to provide care for the children and to help them to work through their horrible experiences. between 1945 and 1948, 429 interviews with children were made, of which Silkes contributed 26. from 1947 she headed the department of Child research of the Jewish Historical institute (ŻiH) in Warsaw. However, in march 1948 the department was closed down, due to the Stalinist restructuring of the ŻiH. Subsequently, Silkes left Poland in august 1949 and emigrated via Paris to new york. Silkes belongs to the group of Holocaust survivors who understood the importance of documenting their experiences in the immediate aftermath of the war. in doing so, she particularly focused on the fate of Jewish children, employing certain psychological guidelines. The article uses an example an interview in yiddish with a Jewish child.

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