The Balkans and the Caucasus regions include those states on the Balkan peninsula, those on the Anatolian Peninsula, and those in the area around the Caucasus Mountains. These states are grouped together because of the intense ethnic struggles within and between many of them. These modern states were all part of the Ottoman Empire and 20th-century political realignments created national polities that included sizable ethnic minorities. Although most of these states had some level of historical engagement with the Holocaust, many of them view World War II almost strictly in terms of their own national histories. The Holocaust, therefore, is generally not a substantial topic of interest unless it fits into a larger national narrative.
Virtually the entire Jewish population of modern-day MACEDONIA, about 7,000 people living mostly in Skopje, was deported by the Bulgarian occupying forces in 1943 to the Treblinka killing center. Currently, students learn about the Holocaust in the high school curriculum, though according to Holocaust educator Goran Sadikarijo, “students know only data and facts about this genocide but very little about ordinary life of the Jewish community in Macedonia before 1943.
Additional efforts should be made for conducting researches [sic] on Jewish life before WWII and [for those stories] to be included in the curriculum.” In 2011, the Holocaust Memorial Center in Skopje opened with the task of personalizing the stories of Holocaust victims in Macedonia. The center not only provides exhibits but also produces documentary films about the Holocaust in Macedonia and in the former Yugoslavia more generally.
RESOURCES
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES ON HOLOCAUST EDUCATION: Trends, Patterns, and Practices, a publication of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Salzburg Global Seminar, 2013
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UNESCO: Why Teach About the Holocaust?, 2013
UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM Holocaust Encyclopedia Articles
Archival Documents
LINKS
The Holocaust Memorial Center for the Jews of Macedonia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_Memorial_Center_for_the_Jews_of_Macedonia