History

The Courage to Care Exhibition was first created and displayed in 1992 at the Jewish Museum which was then situated in the Toorak Synagogue of the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation. It was a joint initiative of the Museum, the Jewish Holocaust Centre and the Raoul Wallenberg Unit of B’nai B’rith Victoria. (B’nai B’rith is an international Jewish service organization).

The Exhibition consisted of a number of panels each of which told the story of one of the Righteous Amongst the Nations or of an individual or family who had survived as a result of the actions of one of the Righteous – particularly those who had links with Melbourne or Victoria.

Subsequently this static Exhibition visited a number of regional cities throughout Victoria. It was always received with great interest and often, as a result of the Exhibition, individuals came forward who themselves had a significant story to tell of their actions or that of their family members during those horrific times.

Since 2000-1, with the assistance of the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation of Monash University, a formal Educational Program was developed. Subsequently, with the support of the Victorian Department of Education, the Exhibition and Educational Program has been taken to all major regional centres throughout Victoria as well as outer metropolitan suburbs of Melbourne as well.

In 1998 the Program was taken up by B’nai B’rith in New South Wales and since then that Program has expanded and also visited most of the major regional centres of that state, as well as taking the Exhibition to Perth, Adelaide and southern Queensland.

In Victoria the Exhibition has regularly displayed at the Annual Conference of the History Teachers Association of Victoria and in 2007 commenced a display at the Annual Conference of the Victorian Association of Teachers of English.

In 2006 Courage to Care in Victoria initiated two web-casts to Year 8 students at Orbost Secondary College giving these students the opportunity to see, hear and ask questions of a Holocaust survivor. According to their teachers the students had never been more engaged. In 2007 we are repeating this exercise and presenting to three groups of Orbost students.

Courage to Care has been awarded a Telematics Grant by the Telematics Course Development Fund and with this is initiating the Links to Living History Project. This aims to modify and develop the existing Program to a format which will allow its message of the dangers of racism and prejudice to be delivered to students via the internet.

The major messages the Program seeks to deliver is that in the world of the student today they have a choice when confronted by situations involving prejudice, whether that be blatant racism or more subtle bullying behaviour – they can join the bully boys or girls, they can (like the majority at the time of the Holocaust) be a passive by-stander, or they can find a way to stand up for what they know to be right.

Places Visited                    Map of Places Visited

Exhibition
1997 – 2000  Warragul, Ballarat, Bendigo. Tatura, Albury, Geelong

Exhibition & Educational Program (since 2001)
2001 Moe, Armadale, Bairnsdale
2002 Horsham
2003 Ringwood, Warrnambool, Geelong
2004 Frankston, Wangaratta, Melton
2005 Box Hill, Warragul, Ballarat, Shepparton
2006 Bendigo, Plenty Ranges, Sale
2007 Hamilton, Mentone, Leongatha
2008 Mildura, Essendon, Wodonga 

Webcasts
2006 Orbost Secondary College
2007 Orbost Secondary College

Displays
History Teachers Association of Victoria Annual Meeting
English Teachers of Victoria Annual Meeting
Jewish Holocaust Centre