This time, I conducted a drawing workshop with the students. We played several drawing games and experimented with different types of drawing, such as portraits, landscapes, and abstracts. They tried to express their emotions using different techniques and learned how to portray feelings in their drawings.

For this exhibition, I decided to create a painting that depicts how Jews are striving to overcome the past and move forward despite the racism and anti-Semitism they face. They continue to carry on with their identity and show us their true legacy.

At first, I was worried about working with visually impaired students, especially since I wanted to do drawing with them. But it turned out that they love drawing and want to learn more about it. Although there was a language barrier, I loved how curious and excited they were.

Through this experience, I learned about the suffering the Jews endured during that period of time and the ongoing consequences. This topic is sensitive and challenging to talk about. When working on such topics, we need to be careful not to unintentionally affect the people involved and not to humiliate them. We are all humans, and being human requires empathy, compassion, and respect for others who might not be like us, but at the end of the day, we are all the same.

No matter what faith one has, we are all part of this humanity. As always, shedding light on important topics and spreading awareness through art can make a significant difference in how people perceive things.

I must admit that this JEMOM Alternative Museum has challenged me in a way that no other project has, both personally and professionally. Initially, I felt disoriented and lost, not knowing how to approach such a sensitive topic with dignity and respect while also exploring my creativity and pushing beyond my comfort zone.

After working closely with the students at Liceu special Moldova during the first phase, I decided to channel my emotions into an installation. I didn’t just want to act out my interpretation of the events; I wanted the viewers to become the real protagonists.

For me, remembering the Holocaust isn’t just about recalling the past; it’s about questioning why such atrocities occurred and continue to happen. I believe that everyone in life can be both a victim and an oppressor, or even indifferent. With this in mind, my installation is an experiential journey that encourages viewers to identify with each of these roles and ultimately question their own position in society.

In our first introductory lesson, I asked students to write a poem about the Holocaust. Then we composed a poem together with the students who chose the music workshop, and we record- ed it as a song. It was a great experience.

The project I prepared for this exhibition was the song we wrote together with the students. First, we will all watch the videoclip of this song and listen to the music. Then, I will play “Jewish Life” by Ernest Bloch, a classical music compos- er of Jewish origin, on the violin.

It was a wonderful experience for me that I will never forget. I met very talented kids, and we were able to create a beautiful product in a much shorter time than usual. It was incredible. I know that many Jewish people were affected by the Holocaust in this area. Emotionally pre- paring for this exhibition was not easy.

Throughout history, humanity’s strength and arrogance have always destroyed the world. Mil- lions of innocent people lost their lives because of who they were. This dark period of humanity must not be forgotten so that it never happens again. Such museums are always very valuable.

They provide an alternative way of spreading knowledge and understanding. I have no doubt that this museum will become even better with the addition of more memories, experiences, and studies in the future.

When we started working on this project, I felt lost because I was aware that providing workshops to students on a topic that elicits many negative emotions involves greater complexity. It was also the first time I had the opportunity to work with teenagers with special needs, and I felt the need to inform and train myself with the help of someone.

I believe that people with disabilities should not have the responsibility to explain to those who interact with them how they should do so. Society should be inclusive and create aware citizens, and I understood that this is not currently happening. Despite this, I experienced a great positive energy during the workshop. The students actively participated in the activities and expressed emotions through their drawings. The difficulty I had initially perceived regarding the topic diminished during the process.

The final project consisted of a mural painting whose subject is a school that values and cares for the identity of each individual student, thus preventing discrimination and hate crimes like those suffered by Jewish people in Târgu Frumos from being repeated in the future. The whole project was inspired by the drawings that the students made during the workshop and by the school’s mission.

The school is represented by a building, but it has a world within it that includes the sky, sun, and nature, representing creativity, a different perspective on space, and care for the environment.

The cloud that envelops the school is a symbol of a safe, protected place, and the plants represent growth, trust, and mutual help. The face that emerges from the shadows symbolizes finding one’s identity, and the shapes around it are in- spired by the students’ abstract representations of happiness. These shapes are all different but coexist in harmony, symbolizing the uniqueness of each individual and understanding.

The canvas I created has as its subject the in- difference and superficiality of society towards contemporary situations similar in some ways to the horrors that Jewish people suffered in the mid-1900s. In the center, there is a work of art that represents the pain of having one’s identity denied.

Some people observe and comment on it but do not realize that they themselves are inside the same work of art: a world in which people still suffer and die for this reason without anyone taking an active interest in them. In this way, even the real users of the work are involved in the same mechanism. Near the painting are some brushes that invite them to paint and imagine a different reality.

Today, we have the opportunity to learn about the pain that Jewish people have felt, and we should not waste it by not trying to change the present reality. The title of the canvas is “Use My Pain.”

In the future of this museum, I envision an experience that can bring about real change.

For the work at the Moldova school, I collab- orated with Sara. We did different workshops with the students around the idea of creating an audiobook, including one focused on storytelling and another on recording sounds.

For this museum project, I have no plans of do- ing a personal product separate from the work- shops with the students and my collaboration with Sara. Right now, I am working on writing the story of the audiobook inspired by the work in the workshop, and after that, the recording will follow.

Working with the students was sometimes diffi- cult, but they were really nice and excited. It was challenging to find activities sometimes because we didn’t have experience working with blind students, and not everything could be done the same way. However, with a bit of improvisation and the students helping each other, we made it work.

Before this project, I didn’t know anything about Jewish life in Târgu Frumos or the region in general. The first things I learned were about the Pogrom and the death trains when we visited the museum in Iași. Later, I also learned that many Jews had lived here before and that there were five synagogues, which was surprising and impressive. I also learned more about Jewish culture and traditions in general.

I struggled with the lack of preparation time and the fear of “doing something wrong” when work- ing on this museum project. Dealing with real historic events and a religion and culture that still exist and is discriminated even today makes it important to not misrepresent facts or cause further harm. I would have loved the opportunity to work with historians or members of the Jew- ish community to ease that fear. Nevertheless, I feel like the audiobook can be an amazing prod- uct since it imagines Jewish life in Târgu Frumos today in an alternative universe.

This makes it possible to tell a more positive story and gives us more artistic freedom. How- ever, I hope to find Jewish sensitivity readers (or listeners) to make sure the portrayal isn’t inac- curate or offensive.

Antisemitism and discrimination neither start- ed nor ended with the Holocaust. We have to continue fighting it and learn from our past so that it can never get this bad again. I think this museum can do really important work in teach- ing about both the forgotten Jewish life in Târgu and the persecution and violence from the side of Romania that must be acknowledged.

Presently, Târgu Frumos has no Jewish resi- dents. While they made up a large part of the population at the beginning of the twentieth century due to the Holocaust their number dwindled. They were either sent to work camps, killed, or fled the area. Those who stayed or re- turned later chose to emigrate, and the last fu- neral at the Jewish cemetery took place in 1977. However, what if none of this had occurred?

What might the Jewish community in Târgu Frumos be like today if they had not experienced persecution or forced emigration?

I worked for four days with the students of Moldova highschool on physical theater. Although we had a small number of students, we accomplished a lot of energizing exercises and theatrical games. Working in a group was the easiest part for them because they already know how to collaborate, be helpful to each other, and always stay united. During those four days, we created a safe space and chemistry between us to try and learn and push them out of their comfort zones. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time with them to create something together, but I’m sure these four days taught them something valuable, as they did for me.

My personal project is a live performance in- spired by the Holocaust and how it still affects our lives today. It’s like a circle that no one can break, and the only way to stop or break this cycle is to go back and prevent this terrible thing from happening in the first place. It wasn’t easy for me at the beginning, but once I started to work with the students and get to know them better, I realized that I was the one who learned from them. They are the most enthusiastic and open-minded youth I have ever worked with, and they are a true example of the quote “being different is being unique.”

Although I have a lot of information about the Jewish community, I didn’t know anything about what happened in Târgu Frumos before I came here. This didn’t surprise me a lot because I know they’ve been through a lot of suffering.

During my experience with the students at the school, I realized that they knew nothing about the history of the Jewish community. We were the ones who told them about it, so this muse- um will be an open source of information about the history of Jews.

We created a storytelling work- shop around the idea of “What would the life of the Jewish community in Târgu Frumos be like if World War II had never happened?” The purpose of this activity was to create a sound library with the aim of producing an audiobook, by inventing a fictitious charac- ter who would provide us with the keys to imagine the evolu- tion of Jewish life in Romania.

Working with the kids, I realized that they are very creative and have a great talent for creating sounds and music.

For this edition of the JEMOM Jewish Memorial open-air museum, I came up with the main idea of the project, as well as the logo and this catalog. It took a long time to find the link between the project’s topic, the collaboration with Liceul Special Moldova School, and the creation of the project’s identity from an artistic point of view.

Working with special needs children was a challenge for me, as I had many questions at the beginning. But day by day, I realized that they are exactly like other children. I remember getting lost in the school’s long corridors and seeking the help of the students to guide me to my destination. These students are very talented and have a successful outlook. I learned from them how to understand Braille, how to play soccer completely blind, and the im- portance of tactile language.

I learned that 75 years ago, on October 9, 1941, the deportation of Jews from Romania began. Before this, the Jewish population in Romania was very large, so much so that there were documents indicating that there were five synagogues in the region. The Jewish com- munity had an influence on the Romanian community. On a personal level, I also learned the importance of discussing this subject in classrooms, as there is a deep ignorance of the history that precedes us. My main challenge was to cre- ate a connection between the museum’s topic and the activities with the children. To address the subject from a point of view that would generate interest for the children and also be a meaningful experience in their lives, I tried to introduce some traditional Jewish games, cooking recipes that had similarities with Romanian cuisine, and create a final product that could be exported to libraries and other institutions. That’s how our audiobook was born.

I desire we will learn from the past, and with information from the present, to change the future. I envision the future of this museum with a beautiful memorial space showcasing all the victims of the Holocaust, a beautiful park full of life with lush trees, and tombstones honoring the lives of all those who suffered.