Wikipedia:Wikishtetl



WikiShtetl: Preserving the memories of lost communities





If you missed our session at Wikimania 2023 - you can watch it here, starting at 4:21:05, or at the link on the right

The WikiShtetl project was established with the aim of commemorating Jewish communities that were damaged or destroyed in the Holocaust in Wikipedia and Wikimedia commons, thereby giving them a memory, a name and a face. Through the project, small and unknown lost communities, as well as large ones, are brought to public memory.

The Wikishtetl Project has been taking place in Hebrew since 2016, focusing on commemorating Jewish communities that were damaged or destroyed in the Holocaust, using the Wikipedia platform. The project sprouted from an educational context, designed to support more creative and meaningful assignments for history students in the framework of their academic studies.

In the years 2020-2021 a public Wikipedia contest was held as part of the project, including a media contest in which family photos and visual materials were added to Wikimedia Commons as historic visual testimonials. Thus far, approx. 150 entries were created, as part of the project.

As an online initiative, Wikishtetl serves as a public and collaborative focal point for learning, preservation and documentation of the heritage of lost Jewish communities. The project’s vision is that descendants of community members together with local citizens from all over the world, living in the towns and cities where the communities existed, collaborate to contribute to the local, community and family knowledge, preserving the fading memories of the communities.

Currently, a unique and innovative educational program is being composed for the 2023-2024 school year, both in Hebrew for Israeli schools and in English for schools around the world with Wikishtetl as a focal point, combining multidisciplinary learning in a wide variety of subjects, in a way that contributes to a meaningful and effective learning process. An alternative assessment replaces the exam, thus enabling in-depth learning, and the creation and acquisition of diverse skills.

In 2023, the launch of the expanded global Wikishtetl Project was approved, with the support of Herzog Global, the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora's Unit-ED Program and Wikimedia Israel, expanding the scope and language range of entries.

For more information - please email hertztehila@gmail.com.