Anti-Fascism Day 2017
On the 9th of November 2017 Omladinska organizacija Svitac (Firefly) once again celebrated the International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism. This year we offered three workshops, for ages 4-7, 9-15 and 16+.
With the 4-7 year old group, we used an original puppet theatre script as a means of communicating the topic of antifascism. Local and international volunteers created the puppet theatre in advance and performed it at the beginning of the workshop. Afterwards we spoke with the children about the different characters, which role they played and was good and bad about their actions. We came to the conclusion that it is not good for someone or a group of some ones to restrict the individual freedoms of another person or persons. Additionally, we should respect all cultures and opinions. To remind ourselves and future generations of this message we drew the faces of individuals onto a poster, expressing the idea that everyone is different and should be respected.
With the 9-15 years old group we did a similar workshop. We used the same puppet theater, presented it to the children and spoke with them about it, but afterwards created a comic together based on the puppet story.
In the evening, with the 16+ years old group, we held an evening discussion about the topic of fascism. We first brainstormed about the term and discussed a definition of fascism. Afterwards, we watched parts of the movie „Die Welle“ (The Wave) and spoke about them. The movie depicts the story of a teacher in a German school who is setting up a self-designed experiment in which he creates an autocratic community. We discussed in the end what this movie has to do with fascism and if something like this could happen again.
All in all, it was a very creative day that seemed to be enjoyed by all and hopefully helped to raise awareness of the topic and how to face it in the future.
Total participants: 45
Manja Momirovic, Svitac (Firefly) weltwarts volunteer
