How many times has the whole world said, “never let this happen again”? And yet, it happens, over and over again. why? And where does it begin?
A fundamental factor is the lack of respect for the equality of all human beings. We call it intolerance. And it is measurable. But providing people with facts and figures is one thing. Making them listen, understand and act is another. This is a great challenge, and our specific duty. The Living History Forum is a government agency which has been commissioned with the task of promoting issues relating to tolerance, democracy and human rights – with the Holocaust as its point of reference. By spreading knowledge about the darkest sides of human history, we want to influence the future. We learn to see patterns. We are forced to reflect on issues such as justice, humanity and personal responsibility.
We ask ourselves how it could ever happen, and why it keeps happening.
Our aim is to encourage people’s readiness to work for the equal value of all human beings. To make everyone listen, understand and act. But this requires more than merely distributing information. We need to be as creative as we are relevant.
We want to make people think
The Living History Forum is an unusual government organisation, an institute of knowledge and culture with no immediate corresponding organisation anywhere in the world. Our assignment is to spread knowledge and generate involvement. But the day we start lecturing people or grow predictable, we will no longer be interesting.
Instead, we want to encourage people to think for themselves. We want to inspire young people to make up their own minds with new insights. This requires diverse starting-points, angles and approaches. The picture below is an attempt to illustrate the fields in which we operate.
How we work
With history as our starting-point, we study contemporary processes that could lead to intolerance and injustice. We start with facts about the Holocaust and other genocides, but also look at events in Sweden. We generate new knowledge in crucial fields and convey this knowledge, often through traditional channels, with seminars, printed material and debates.
But we don’t stop there. We move on to the emotional understanding of what these injustices involve. In order to achieve this, we experiment with various structures and methods. We encourage young people to apply their own creativity to define the intolerance that exists in their own everyday lives.
We challenge the customary perceptions of “us” and “them” by taking values and opinions to their ultimate consequences.
We do this all over Sweden, together with local, regional and national bodies. We also operate internationally. In our premises in Old Town, Stockholm, we organise exhibitions and debates. You will also find our reference library here.
CONTACT THE LIVING HISTORY FORUM
- Visitors:
- Stora Nygatan 10-12, Gamla Stan, Stockholm
- Correspondence:
- Box 2123, SE-103 13 Stockholm, Sweden
- Tel switchboard:
- +46(0)8-723 87 50
- Fax:
- +46(0)8-723 87 59
- E-mail:
- info@levandehistoria.se