A walk through our history
On the very last day where school trips for the S7 were allowed, the S7Hi2DEA chose to go on a trip with their history class and visited the Polish Embassy and the House of European History in Brussels. In the beginning the class had the honour to be welcomed by the chargé d’affaires of Poland at the embassy. The chargé d’affaires, Ms Katarzyna Skórzyńska, shared with us her memories of the 1980s and the Solidarność movement, when the Polish people fought against communism and achieved thus to overcome soviet suppression and install freedom in Eastern Europe – this was a huge contribution to our common Europe as we know it today. After this meeting with a person who lived that struggle and let us relive this part of our history, we went to visit the House of European History and learnt more about the roots of European unification. All of this was part of the history program according to the European school’s syllabus in S7, where they teach the Cold War and the post-war history of Europe.
The students want to share their impressions of that day:
“This was a day trip which consisted of many different activities. We visited the Polish Embassy, the House of European History and even went on a walk afterwards and had some Belgian fries. At the Polish Embassy, we were taught the history of the Solidarność; a powerful social movement which had a big impact on ending communist rule in Poland. The head of the embassy, Katarzyna Skórzyńska, presented this and as she was living in that time it was very eye opening. The embassy itself was also very beautiful and they offered us coffee and cookies which was very kind of them.
In the House of European History, we learnt about the founding fathers of the European union, as well as the development of the E.U. throughout history. I found it to be very insightful and very important to learn about, especially with the war in Europe right now. After visiting the House of European History, we took the tram and went on a nice walk in a forest. Herr Krenz had also made us a delicious apple pie which we ate next to a lake. Afterwards, we continued our hike and we went to a friterie where we had some traditional Belgian fries with mayonnaise (the only acceptable fry sauce). I really enjoyed this trip and with it being one of the last school trips, it made it all the more special. I had a great time and also learned a lot about the Solidarność and the history of Europe.” (Claudia)
“The visit was especially interesting because Poland’s contributions to democratic change in 1989 are not often highlighted, giving us a new perspective on European history.” (Ale)
„Mir hat an diesem Besuch besonders die Nähe die wir, dank der Zeitzeugin, mit dem historischen Ereignis hatten, gefallen. Was ich damit meine ist, dass man die Gelegenheit hatte, über ein wichtiges polnisches und europäisches Ereignis erfahren zu dürfen durch eine Expertin für dieses Thema, die diese Zeiten der Besatzung durch die Sowjetunion in Polen und später die Reformen wirklich erlebt hat. Im Gegensatz zu einem Dokumentarfilm oder einem Sachtext zu einem Thema im Unterricht, hat man sich hier den Ereignissen viel näher und viel mehr eingebunden in die Geschichte gefühlt. Was ich später auch sehr geschätzt habe, ist die Zeit, die sich die Frau gegeben hat, um auf unsere Fragen zu antworten und damit einen aktiven Austausch zu ermöglichen.“ (Joséphine)
„Der erste Stopp war in der polnischen Botschaft. Dort hat uns eine Zeitzeugin der Solidarnosc von ihnen berichtet. Dieser Vortrag war sehr ausführlich und interessant, so ausführlich sogar, dass wir unseren Termin mit dem Haus der europäischen Geschichte verschieben mussten.“ (Gabriel)
Einen nachdenklichen Ton brachte die Beobachtung eines Schülers ein, dem ein innerer Widerspruch zwischen den Idealen der Pioniergeneration und ihrem aussenpolitischen Verhalten auffiel: „Ein Fakt im Museum, der besonders auf mich gewirkt hat, ist, dass diese EU-Pioniere aus Nationen kamen, die auch grosse Kolonialmächte waren. Da fragt man sich, ob die Werte der heutigen EU nur für die EU waren. In Europa wurde für Frieden und Freiheit gekämpft, während in anderen Kontinenten die Menschenrechte verletzt wurden.“ (Rafael)
(See French version of this article for comments in French)
As history teacher I can only say thanks to this class with their interest in history and their eagerness to accompany to such a trip, going to an embassy and a museum and showing their passion for our history. It was a pleasure to share that time with them almost at the end of their time in our school.
Jochen Krenz
