Parents and directors fear a “displacement” of the war in the Middle East.
Pavements of Memory will be laid on Friday in Brogniez and Georges Moreau streets in Anderlecht. These gold paving stones, placed in front of the houses of the victims of Nazism by the association for the Memory of the Shoah, help us not to forget the atrocities of the Second World War.
Usually, schools located near where the paving stones are laid come to the ceremony. Testimony of a survivor, upstream work: this participation is accompanied by an educational project.
Contacted by our colleagues from La Derniere Heure, Bella Swiatlowski, treasurer of the association, indicates that she has invited two Anderlecht schools for this Friday’s commemoration: the Carrefour primary school and the Marius Renard municipal institute. However, both directors refused to participate. “The schools did not want us to come and talk about the Shoah with the students given the current conditions in the Middle East. The management does not want to impose this on the students”explains the treasurer. “A director replied to us: ‘We are not moving the war’, to justify the refusal.”
A situation that bothers the treasurer: “We do not address the current conflict when we visit schools with Holocaust survivors. We are here to disseminate a duty of memory. These are two separate elements.”
Luiza Duraki, alderman for Education (PS), confirms that the refusal comes from a fear linked to the conflict in the Middle East. Parents would have reacted in particular after the invitation.
Editing – Photo: Belga
