Videos

On 8 May 1945, Nazi Germany unconditionally surrendered to Allied forces, bringing an end to World War II in Europe. Today, 80 years later, we reflect on the devastating conflict that claimed millions of lives and reshaped the global order.

This teaser is part of our educational campaign #WWII80YearsAfter, launched to mark 80 years since the outbreak and end of the Second World War. Through videos, articles, historical documents, and curated resources, the campaign follows the war’s trajectory - from the invasion of Poland in 1939 to the liberation of Europe in 1945 and the postwar reckoning.

This preview offers a glimpse into our upcoming full-length video on the course of the war—highlighting key turning points, human experiences, and the enduring legacy of this global catastrophe.

Learn more about the Second World War here.

The contest ‘Grandparents. Grand Stories. The Closest Stories from World War II’, organised by the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity, marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Aimed especially at elementary and secondary school pupils, university students, and educators, the initiative invited participants to explore the personal and local dimensions of wartime history—often through family stories and firsthand accounts from witnesses.

The contest concluded in March 2025, and the winners have now been announced. Through their submissions, participants helped preserve the fading memories of a crucial era, strengthening intergenerational dialogue and encouraging a deeper connection to the past.

Learn more about the contest here.

Learn more about the Second World War here.

Public task financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland within the grant competition "Public Diplomacy 2024-2025 - the European dimension and countering disinformation".

Aufzeichnung des Webinars „80 Jahre danach: Der Zweite Weltkrieg im Zeitalter der Desinformation“ vom 29. April 2025.

Im Fokus des Webinars steht die unterschiedliche Erinnerungskultur in Ost- und Westdeutschland an das Kriegsende am 8.–9. Mai 1945 und ihre Bedeutung vor dem Hintergrund zunehmender Desinformation. Christine Riesenhuber (Europäische Schule München) und Arkadi Miller (Museum Berlin-Karlshorst) zeigen anhand praktischer Unterrichtsmaterialien, wie Lehrkräfte den kontroversen Erinnerungsdiskurs zum Zweiten Weltkrieg im Unterricht behandeln können. Moderiert wurde die Veranstaltung von Helena Link (ENRS). Die Teilnehmenden erhalten Einblicke in neue Bildungsansätze zu Geschichte, Medienkompetenz und kritischem Denken – mit Materialien wie Fachartikeln, Primärquellen, Quizzen und Gruppenaufgaben. Ein Angebot für Lehrkräfte und Pädagog:innen, die ihren Schüler:innen helfen möchten, historische Narrative zu hinterfragen und Desinformation kritisch zu begegnen.

Find more resources for your lessons here.

Learn more about the Second World War here.

Public task financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland within the grant competition "Public Diplomacy 2024-2025 - the European dimension and countering disinformation".

Nagranie z webinarium „80 lat później: Jak uczyć o II wojnie światowej w czasach dezinformacji” z 24 kwietnia 2025 r.

Podczas spotkania zastanawialiśmy się, czy II wojna światowa to zamknięty rozdział historii, czy może nadal aktywne pole walki – tym razem informacyjnej. Webinarium poprowadził Łukasz Migniewicz, historyk i nauczyciel historii z Wrocławia, który zaprezentował nowoczesne podejście do nauczania o wojnie w kontekście współczesnych wyzwań. Uczestnicy poznali zestaw innowacyjnych narzędzi edukacyjnych, wspierających rozwój krytycznego myślenia – od storytellingu memicznego i TikToka historycznego, po edycję Wikipedii, debatę uczniowską i grę decyzyjną „Ratujemy pomnik!”. W trakcie webinarium przedstawiony został również nowy pakiet dydaktyczny, zawierający scenariusze lekcji, quizy online oraz zestaw źródeł historycznych i ilustracji.

Find more resources for your lessons here.

Learn more about the Second World War here.

Public task financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland within the grant competition "Public Diplomacy 2024-2025 - the European dimension and countering disinformation".

Recording from the webinar „ Holocaust denial and distortion in times of the 80th Anniversary of Auschwitz Liberation” from the 23 January 2025.

As the world marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, this webinar explored the ongoing threats of Holocaust denial and distortion. Experts examined how extremist groups, state actors, and social media have amplified misinformation, challenging historical truth and undermining the memory of one of history’s darkest chapters. Our speaker, Marlene Wöckinger—a historian at the Mauthausen Memorial and an expert in Holocaust education—shares her insights. She collaborates with erinnern.at, TikTok Germany, and EuroClio on innovative educational projects. The webinar provides educators and the public with practical tools—including lesson plans, fact-checking resources, and survivor testimonies—to counter Holocaust distortion effectively.

Find more resources for your lessons here.

Learn more about the Second World War here.

Public task financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland within the grant competition "Public Diplomacy 2024-2025 - the European dimension and countering disinformation".

Recording from the webinar „ Weaponizing the Past: Russia’s use of WWII in its aggression against Ukraine” from the 19 February 2025.

This webinar examines how historical narratives are manipulated to serve political agendas, with a focus on Russia’s use of WWII memory to justify its war against Ukraine. Our speaker, Dr. Bartłomiej Gajos (Mieroszewski Centre for Dialogue), explores key disinformation tactics, the impact of historical propaganda, and strategies for countering these narratives. Learn how educators and the public can challenge disinformation, encourage critical thinking, and navigate memory wars in today’s complex information landscape.

Find more resources for your lessons here.

Learn more about the Second World War here.

Public task financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland within the grant competition "Public Diplomacy 2024-2025 - the European dimension and countering disinformation".

For the International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2025, the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity has prepared a short film featuring the work of Mieczysław Kościelniak—an artist who, despite the inhumane conditions of a concentration camp, created drawings that not only bore witness to unspeakable tragedy but also symbolized resilience, survival, and the power of memory.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Day was designated as such by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005 in order to make future generations sensitive to the tragedy of the Holocaust and so prevent in that way any future acts of genocide. The Day is commemorated on 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau German Nazi concentration camp, the site that witnessed the carnage of at least a million of Hungarian, Polish, French, Czech, Slovak and Greek Jews as well as those from other countries, and around a hundred twenty thousand other prisoners (Poles, Roma, Soviet captives and others). The European Network Remembrance and Solidarity wishes to be involved in activities commemorating the Day in public awareness.

Bardzo łatwo wyobrazić sobie pokój z meblościanką, oblepiony wyrwanymi z “Bravo” albo “Popcornu” plakatami Nirvany i Madonny. W telewizji leci „Świat według kiepskich” albo „M jak miłość”, żujemy gumę kulkę, czytamy komiks z Donaldem...
W grudniowej edycji Zrozumieć Pamięć wracamy do tego, co już znamy – Kamil Bałuk i Dariusz Piechota porozmawiają o telewizji, popkulturze i nostalgii za latami 80., 90., 00.

Kamil Bałuk w „Dawno temu w telewizj”i rozmawia z osobami, które stworzyły polską telewizję (z Cezarym Żakiem, Jackiem Kawalcem, Iloną Łepkowską...). Uchylają nam one rąbka tajemnicy na temat pracy przed kamerami, radzenia sobie z popularnością, dzielą się kulisami kręcenia seriali, teleturniejów, sitcomów.
Dariusz Piechota w swojej książce „Na fali nostalgii” opisuje tęsknienie za analogowym światem i procesy reprodukcji przeszłości we współczesnej popkulturze. Pokazuje, w jaki sposób muzyka, dania i codzienności z PRL-u do nas wracają, i dlaczego lubimy Stranger Things i Taylor Swift.

Wystąpili:
Kamil Bałuk autor publikacji „Dawno temu w telewizji”
Dr Dariusz Piechota autor publikacji „Na fali nostalgii. Lata osiemdziesiąte i dziewięćdziesiąte w najnowszej kulturze i literaturze popularnej ”
Prowadzenie: Małgorzata Pakier

Dyskusja jest tłumaczona na polski język migowy.

In October 2024, four groups of students met in Bucharest, where they learned about the Romanian 20th-century history, including the First and the Second World Wars, the communist period and the Ceaușescu era. After this, they moved to the former prison in Pitești, which was a scene of one of the most cruel experiments in the modern world, carried out between 1949 and 1951.

---

Sound in the Silence is an intercultural and international remembrance project for youth. At historically challenging locations students work with artists representing different artistic fields in order to understand how the past is connected to their questions in the present.

Recording from the webinar „How to Spot Historical Fake News? Case Studies from the Second World War” from the 3 December 2024.

The webinar addressed how to tackle disinformation and memory conflicts with a ready-to-use educational kit. Our speaker, Dr. Dagmara Moskwa shares insights on propaganda from WWII and its modern-day manipulation to shape public opinion. This webinar also provides practical tips for fostering critical thinking, initiating meaningful classroom discussions, and combating disinformation in today’s world.

Find more resources for your lessons here.

Learn more about the Second World War here.

Public task financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland within the grant competition "Public Diplomacy 2024-2025 - the European dimension and countering disinformation".

The participants of the 2024 edition of the ‘In Between?’ project explored the subject of invisible borders. During their study visits to Masuria in Poland and Helsinki/Tallinn along the Finnish/Estonian border, they created two audio documents that depict their findings and reflections.

This reportage follows our participants on their journey through Masuria, Poland.

---

In Between? is an educational project for students interested in exploring the history of the European borderland regions. During the 2024 edition of the programme the participants met in Warsaw and subsequently set off on study visits to Masuria and the Finish-Estonian borderland, where they interviewed members of the local community and produced a series of podcasts.

On 27 January, on the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau German Nazi concentration camp, the International Holocaust Remembrance Day is commemorated. For this occasion, the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity and the House of the Wannsee Conference have prepared a short animated film entitled “Memento”, directed by the Hungarian auteur Zoltán Szilágyi Varga. The short spot is available on the organisers’ websites and it will also be shown across European TV channels. We would like to invite your institution to join our commemorative event by sharing this film on your internet platforms.
The half-a-minute-long spot based on charcoal drawings recalls one of the most tragic events in human history. As its director Zoltán Szilágyi Varga says, when trying to grapple with the Holocaust “we stand in front of human nature’s distortion without any answer despite all the research we know, the number of victims counted, the exact description of the events.” The film evokes symbolism which is easily recognised by Europeans: cattle railway cars, railway tracks, paper snippets or abandoned flats, yet it shows them from a child’s perspective, thereby posing the question whether it is possible to comprehend that tragedy and stressing the need to uphold the memory of those days.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Day was designated as such by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005 in order to make future generations sensitive to the tragedy of the Holocaust and so prevent in that way any future acts of genocide. The Day is commemorated on 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau German Nazi concentration camp, the site that witnessed the carnage of at least a million of Hungarian, Polish, French, Czech, Slovak and Greek Jews as well as those from other countries, and around a hundred twenty thousand other prisoners (Poles, Roma, Soviet captives and others). The European Network Remembrance and Solidarity wishes to be involved in activities commemorating the Day in public awareness.

The partners of the campaign include such institutions as: the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Site and Museum, the Berlin-based Foundation for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Warsaw-based POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, and the Federal Institute for Culture and History of the Germans in Eastern Europe.

Elżbieta Ficowska was born in Warsaw ghetto in 1942 to Henia and Jossel Koppel. She survived because she was smuggled to the "Aryan side" and hid from Germans by Stanisława Bussold – a 56-year-old midwife and member of the underground helping Jews. The only thing left from her Jewish parents is a little silver spoon bearing the girl's name and birth date. Her story is among those presented at the traveling exhibition "Between Life and Death".

Mala Zimetbaum and Edek Galiński's is a unique love story. After an unsuccessful attempt at escape, both perished in the Nazi German concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Sound in the Silence is an intercultural and international remembrance project for youth. At historically challenging locations students work with artists representing different artistic fields in order to understand how the past is connected to their questions in the present.

This video portrays the editions of 2022, which took place in Lithuania at the Kaunas 9th Fort and in Austria at Gusen & Mauthausen Memorial Sites, and 2023, which took place in Germany at the House of the Wannsee Conference and Croatia at the Jasenovac Memorial Site.

Sound in the Silence is co-funded by the European Union.

Co słychać na Górnym Śląsku? Czym brzmi(ała) Warszawa?
Mikrokosmosem dyskusji z cyklu “Zrozumieć Pamięć” to budynek, dom, mieszkanie; Kamil Iwanicki i Marta Michalska zabierają nas na spacer po Górnym Śląsku i Warszawie. W ślad za ich książkami zaglądamy do familoków i kamienic, ale też wyglądać z nich na place, podwórka i ulice.

Kamil Iwanicki w swojej publikacji „Familoki. Śląskie mikrokosmosy” skupia się na środowisku śląskich robotników i ich życiu domowym. Opisuje izby górników i ich rodzin, ich zachowania, przyzwyczajenia, tradycje.
Marta Michalska w swojej pracy „Dźwięki, ludzie i nasłuchiwanie miasta. Wybrane elementy fonosfery Warszawy na przełomie XIX i XX wieku” przenosi nas w czasie do dziewiętnastego wieku i uczy nas nasłuchiwania historii. Podsłuchuje grające na pianinach dziewczyny, krzyczących kupców, sprzedawców, kataryniarzy.

Wystąpili:
Kamil Iwanicki autor publikacji „Familoki. Śląskie mikrokosmosy”
Marta Michalska autorka publikacji „Dźwięki, ludzie i nasłuchiwanie miasta. Wybrane elementy fonosfery Warszawy na przełomie XIX i XX wieku”
Prowadzenie: Małgorzata Pakier

Dyskusja jest tłumaczona na polski język migowy.

Panellists:
- Filip Binder (Czech Academy of Sciences): “Castles of the 19th Century as Sites of Memory of the Aristocracy Based in the Czech Lands”
- Luděk Němec (University of Vienna): “The 'Pearl of South Bohemia': Hluboká Castle between Aristocratic Memory, Cultural Symbol, and Tourist Attraction”
- István Kollai (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship): “Genius Loci around Castles in Slovakia: Built Heritage of Feudal Past in the “Cultural Landscape” and in the ‘Social Mindscape’”

Discussant: Simon Donig (Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe) (ZOOM)
Moderation: Joanna Wawrzyniak (University of Warsaw/Memory Studies Association)

The 14th conference of the series 'Genealogies of Memory' with the theme Gentry, Nobility and Aristocracy: the Post-Feudal Perspectives.'
The conference examined the memory and legacy of Europe’s landowning elites—gentry, nobility, and aristocracy—and their role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural history of Europe. Through comparative discussions, leading academics will delve into how the post-feudal dissolution of these elites continues to influence social structures, material heritage, and memory in various European regions.

Panellists:
- Siarhei Marozau (Independent Researcher): "Aristocracy of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in Memory Policy of Belarus (1988–2023): Competition of Historical Narratives" (ZOOM)
- Tomasz Błaszczak (Vytautas Magnus University), Agnieszka Nowakowska (University of Warsaw): "Villains or Benefactors: Images of Nobility in Lithuanian and Polish Textbooks"
- Rafał Slaski (Zofia and Jan Włodek Foundation/Polish Gentry Association): "Educational Activities Restoring Knowledge about History and Achievements of Polish Landowners"

Discussant: Michał Łuczewski (University of Warsaw)
Moderation: Małgorzata Pakier (ENRS)

The 14th conference of the series 'Genealogies of Memory' with the theme Gentry, Nobility and Aristocracy: the Post-Feudal Perspectives.'
The conference examined the memory and legacy of Europe’s landowning elites—gentry, nobility, and aristocracy—and their role in shaping the political, economic, and cultural history of Europe. Through comparative discussions, leading academics will delve into how the post-feudal dissolution of these elites continues to influence social structures, material heritage, and memory in various European regions.