At the beginning of the last school week, an educational event for our board game "Through the Iron Curtain" took place in the beautiful Didaktikon space in the Hybernská Campus . The program was attended by high school students from Gymnasium nad Aleje and Business Academy and Gymnasium Bubeneč. These schools expressed interest in the game and the students have it available in their institutions. Our aim was to provide the participants with the historical context of the time the board game is about and to introduce them to the fates of the witnesses who inspired its creation, so that they would have something to rely on when playing the board game in class.
Course of action
The two-and-a-half-hour-long programme therefore consisted of two interconnected parts. In the first, students listened to a lecture by Petr Blažek, director of the Museum of the Memory of the 20th Century. The topic was the historical phenomenon of migration and refugeeism and the origin and shape of the Iron Curtain, including several stories of people who, for various reasons, decided to overcome it, often in a curious way. There was also space for questions from the audience.
Experience workshop
After the break, the acquired knowledge was followed by an experiential workshop. It was based on the principles of drama education and focused on the human aspect of the so-called great history. Under the guidance of the lecturer Damaris Kopecká, the students learned about the life of the smuggler Karel. Based on the story, they then experienced the moral dilemma of whether to provide help to an escaped political prisoner and risk their own and their family's fate, or to leave their fellow man in need at the mercy of the communist regime and thus betray their values. Throughout the workshop, historian Michal Macháček was also available for the participants and their questions. The programme was inspired by the life stories of Josef Hasil and Irena Šimonová-Vlachová, which were compiled by Petr Blažek into a booklet for the board game and presented to the students in the final reflection.
The pupils of both schools are perceptive and intelligent young people who brought many stimulating ideas to the game situations raised by the workshop. This contributed in no small part to the success of the event and the mutual enrichment of all participants, as confirmed by the feedback of one of the participants: 'A well thought out programme combined with activities. An enriching experience."
We would like to thank all the students and the Hybernská Campus once again and look forward to meeting them again at one of the museum's next educational events.
If you are interested in receiving invitations to upcoming educational events from us, please contact us at vzdelavani@mpxx.cz.
📷 Marta Myšková