Sound in the Silence 2025

About

Time: 27 September – 05 October 2025
Location: Pruszków, Poland
Costs: Free of charge
Project language: English

Sound in the Silence is an intercultural and international remembrance project designed for youth. At historically significant locations, high school students collaborate with artists from various disciplines to explore how the past connects to their present-day questions and experiences.

Through artistic workshops, it provides young people with new perspectives on European history, encouraging them to develop their own understanding using different means of expression. To date, the project has been organized in various locations, including Memorial Places Neuengamme, Ravensbrück, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Gusen-Mauthausen, as well as Denkort Bunker Valentin, Kaunas 9th Fort Museum, Warsaw, Jasenovac, and Pitesti. This year, Sound in the Silence will take place in Pruszków, Poland.

“Warsaw passed through here” - what stories remain?

The 2025 edition of Sound in the Silence will take place in Pruszków, Poland, focusing on the history of the Dulag 121 transit camp.

Dulag 121 was established by Nazi Germany and served as a transit camp for between 390,000 and 650,000 inhabitants of Warsaw who were expelled from their city during and after the Warsaw Uprising (1.08-2.10.1944) The camp was located on the premises of the Railway Repair Workshops in Pruszków. From there, people were transported to labour camps in the Third Reich, various concentration camps, or deeper into the General Government.
The voice of civilians from Warsaw and nearby areas have been absent for many years in public discourse, as the history of the Warsaw Uprising has only been told from the perspective of those who were fighting in combat, Home Army (AK) soldiers. The mission of the Dulag 121 Museum is to preserve historical memory, collect information, and recount the fate and the stories of ordinary people driven from Warsaw during the Uprising and those who were dedicated to helping them.

While traveling to Pruszków by train, one passes by the sign on the wall: Warsaw passed through here. This is one of the few signs commemorating the fate of civilians during and after the Warsaw Uprising.
This significant lack of acknowledgement was the reason why Pruszków was chosen as the location for Sound in the Silence 2025. While all the former camp buildings have been transformed into industrial spaces, one can still encounter railway halls in Dulag 121.

Through artistic expression, young participants will explore the stories of those who experienced Dulag 121, reflecting on their resilience and the hardship experienced there. By uncovering the remnants and personal stories associated with Dulag 121, Sound in the Silence in Pruszków seeks to illuminate the often overlooked aspects of the Second World War history, ensuring that the memories of those who suffered are honoured and preserved for future generations.

For students, this immersive experience will foster a deeper understanding of history’s impact on individuals and communities, creating a bridge between the past with the present.

Recruitment

Applications are now closed. Results will be published on 19 May 2025.
Click here for the recruitment results.

Setting the Stage

Dan Wolf

It all started with a song…

read

About the Artists

Dan Wolf

PROJECT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOPS

Dan Wolf is a hip-hop artist who works with rap, theater, personal narrative, and history to give voice to the problematic world we live in. His multi-sensory work draws its power from years of experience working, teaching, and performing with the critically acclaimed hip-hop music and theatre collective Felonious. His projects have traveled all around the world from concert halls to museums to schools and memorial sites where he engages history and culture as a prompt to make vital music and theater that can only live in this moment. He is the Artistic Director of Sound in the Silence and a co-founder of both the Bay Area Theatre Cypher and Felonious. He is a board member of the Playwrights Foundation and a member of the Recording Academy and Actors Equity Association.

Kat Rampackova

DANCING WORKSHOPS

Kat Rampackova is a choreographer, dance activist, and dance facilitator from Košice, Slovakia, specializing in interdisciplinary and inclusive dance projects. She is the co-founder of PST – Space of Contemporary Dance in Košice, and the dramaturg for Move Fest Košice, an annual festival of contemporary dance and new circus. Currently based in Barcelona, Kat is expanding her expertise in somatic practices through Body-Mind Centering. Since 2009, she has been a freelance choreographer and performer, with a focus on inclusion and artistic projects for children, as well as dance and site-specific performances in both traditional and non-traditional settings. Since 2016, Kat has been a choreographer for Sound in the Silence. Her work emphasizes cross-cultural communication, community-building, and the integration of art and education.

Sean Palmer

VOCAL WORKSHOP

Sean Palmer (1977) trained in theatre and arts in Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. After almost a decade of theatrical collaborations between PL and the UK, he moved to PL permanently. He is an active creator, collaborator and educator. Between 2010 and 2020 he ran his own experimental choir - GRE BADANIE - exploring the boundaries of sound and energy as a carrier of meaning. 2014 - 2018 he was the resident artistic director/conductor of the POLIN choir which performed original material concerts twice a year alongside current exhibitions. He currently co-runs MONT - a youth orchestra and a fun community choir for foreigners with the support of artistic institutions Warsaw. Sean is not a trained musician, but has found himself composing for theatre, dance and choirs as well as singing and recording in multifarious settings. Since 2015 he is the front man of the White Kites (Missing, Devillusion) and jazz trio William’s Things (William’s Things, A Heart Not all of Wood, The Robots are Coming). Every day Sean works as VO artist from his studio in Warsaw. Apart from all the above ‘arty stuff’, he’s also a dad, a husband, has two kids, two cats, loves running and doesn’t eat animals.

About the Educators

Urszula Bijoś

teacher's workshop leader

Urszula Bijoś has graduated with a MA in History from the Institute of History (University of Warsaw). She also studied at the Paul-Valery III University in Montpellier (France). Her field of interests focuses on popularization of 20th-century history and culture of remembrance. Before joining ENRS, she worked for several years in the non-governmental sector creating educational materials for schools and training for teachers. She is the co-author of the guidebooks 'Cities of Memory' about places of memory in Berlin and Bucharest. She is a teacher trainer, author of educational tools, and team leader for the Hi-Story Lessons online platform in the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity.

Ioana Haşu Georgiev

teacher's workshop leader

Ioana Haşu Georgiev is a Romanian researcher of the recent past, focusing on less explored aspects of the Communist dictatorship, such as the role of women in the anticommunist movement, transgenerational trauma, and the postmemory of traumatic past events. She created an interractive workshop on Communism for children and young students called The Country of our Grandparents that was presented in schools and summer camps during the past ten years. In 2022, Ioana was part of the team that set up the first Museum of Communism for Children in Romania, at the Pitesti Prison Memorial. Her latest research endeavor resulted in a documentary theatre play portraying women who fought against communism in Romania. Besides the theater play Share Location: Rezistenta Fagaras, the project included workshops for students and teachers, but also a series of public debates discussing the legacy of communism in the contemporary society. Ioana has many years of professional experience as a radio journalist in national media and in the offices of foreign media in Romania.

Tetiana Kriukovska

FACILITATOR OF GROUP DYNAMICS

Tetiana Kriukovska was born and raised Donetsk, Ukraine, where she worked as a filmmaker. After the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 she founded the NGO Tolerance in You, which organises exchange programs for young people from Germany, Poland and Ukraine and which trains international educators who want to specialise in the topic of war. Tetiana moved to Germany in March 2022, where she worked as a project coordinator for the Ukrainian-Polish-German education network LIKHTAR at the educational institute in Bredbeck. Tetiana’s expertise includes filmmaking, international youth work, moderation in non-formal education and intercultural dialogue. Her long-time experience of working with youth in a sensitive and creative way makes her an excellent educator. During the Sound in the Silence project, Tetiana will be responsible for ensuring the participants’ wellbeing, offering them tools to reflect and focus on personal feelings towards what they have learnt. She will also facilitate collaboration and group dynamics. Her dream is to organise Sound in the Silence in Ukraine one day, fostering a new culture of remembrance of the war in her country.

Barbara Walshe

teacher's workshop leader

Barbara Walshe is from Ireland and is a trained restorative facilitator and practitioner. She has had a varied career working in the fields of research, advocacy, training, community development, peace building and restorative work at local, national, and international level. Her current work in Restorative Justice stems from a growing need amongst human beings, communities, organisations, and institutions to address harm and the restoration of fractured relationships. Her experience has shown her that conflict, despite been seen as fearsome and negative by some can often be a source of innovation and positive change. To date she has worked with community groups, institutions, prisoners, former combatants, individuals, victims of sexual abuse and trauma, members of Christian churches and many more. She holds a Masters in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation (Trinity College Dublin, Belfast based) and a Masters in Community Development (NUI, Galway).

Workshops for teachers

During the project, we organise workshops for teachers. Over the course of four days, teachers will have the opportunity to participate in three blocks of workshops.

The first block will focus on presenting educational resources developed by the ENRS and will be led by Urszula Bijoś, team leader of the Hi-Story Lessons educational platform. Through interactive sessions, teachers will explore methods for recognising and countering historical disinformation, discuss approaches to teaching World War II on its 80th anniversary, and discover new resources designed to foster meaningful classroom conversations.

The second block of workshops will be led by Barbara Walshe, an expert in restorative dialogue. This session will provide a reflective and interactive space for educators to explore conflict and polarisation, offering practical tools to manage division and foster collaboration in the classroom and beyond.

The final block will be conducted by Ioana Hașu-Georgiev and divided into two parts. The first will present practical tools such as microhistory and role play to enliven history teaching and engage students across age groups. The second will explore art as a medium for historical debate, showing how creative methods can bring forgotten stories into focus and offer students a chance to engage actively with the past.

For more information, click here.

Project Coordinators

The coordinators of the 2025 edition of Sound in the Silence are Justyna Radziukiewicz and Dagmara Chełstowska.

Contact: justyna.radziukiewicz@enrs.eu or dagmara.chelstowska@enrs.eu

Read more about Justyna.
Read more about Dagmara.

Partners

Organiser

Partner

ENRS is funded by: