This year we are continuing working on “Chibur” project.

It seems that there should be much more such projects because apart from new knowledge in ICT, connected with the blog creation, we had studied the history of our city and its Jewish community. We had an opportunity to speak with citizens of our city and walk through the places closely connected with the history of Jewish people.

We consider it to be very good that we could share our knowledge with others.
And the most wonderful that our work had not been neglected and we won the 2nd place in “The best group blog” nomination, and materials that we had gathered were recognized as unique ones.

My name is Daniela Berhshtein. I'm from Odessa in the fourth generation.

Up to the 9th grade I was studying at the Jewish religious school “Or Sameach”. But then I entered the 9th grade of the ORT Secondary School # 94, because there is advanced study of Computer Science and ICT provided and I would like to continue my education as a programmer. Also it was important for me that I would be able to continue study Hebrew and Jewish traditions. Now I am graduating 11th grade and is going to enter Odessa I.I. Mechnikov National University’s on computer engineering specialty.  

History of people for me is not the line of extraordinary events, wars with victories and defeats and lives of outstanding persons only. History of nationality is also, and may be first of all, is the history of family. In our family before environment will impact our mind, we receive first and most important lessons of history. Our family passes us the baton of the national history. Our ancestors are the holders of history. We obliged to them for our spirit. But what do we know about them?

Before my participating in “Chibur” project I did not know much about my ancestors and their lives. Unfortunately, it is difficult for me to understand, how their life was in those years, because it is calmer and absolutely other time now. But if they had not survived in those difficult years I would not be born and I am very grateful to them for this.

So I am grateful as well for possibility to hear many things they prefer not to remember at all, it was very courageously from them.

I am very proud of my family and I love them all, they are incredible!

(Photo: Simona with the participants of the project)

We consider this project as a continuation of the work that had been begun last year. However, we have changed conception of materials’ representation extended the range of themes discovered and used new form of materials’ representation. 

In those cases when we applied to the issues of history, memory and traditions, it is inevitable that we consider museum as the main source of information and the focus of artefacts. When we had been searching information for the previous project, we sadly discovered that there is no museum in Samara devoted to the Jewish community, its history and traditions. Although some enthusiasts several times attempted to create and support museum exhibitions in religious and cultural centres of the city, no one is extant. There are no finance, no premises and no inrush of visitors.

It is a wrong thing that there is no Jewish museum in Samara. And we find a way out to solve the problems mentioned above and created a virtual museum. You do not need to get it from the other side of the city, you do not need to buy ticket and you could reach it any time in day and night. Its doors are opened as for one visitor so as for thousand ones who are interested.
This is a real museum not a case or corner. There are 12 halls, 76 stands and 146 pages. This is modern museum and there were up-to-date ICT technologies used. It is able to enormous amount of showpieces and its holding is able to be refilled constantly.

This museum is devoted to the people and there are about 300 personalia here. And biographies of some of them, mostly of those, whose lives covered the pre-revolutionary period, had been gleaned, their names and lives had been discovered from non-existence (L. Zelikhman, M.Boberman, M.Chakovskiy and others). 

And the most important — this museum was created for people — everyone could found here something interesting. Some after  having virtual tour on museum could visit visual aid room, some could be attracted by biographic video stories, created by professionals, and some by animation films about Jewish traditions and holidays, created by students, not so professionally but with love. Some could be a guests or member of the hobby group. There is an exhibition of children’s drawings in Art Studio and you could hear the voices of vocal groups “Aliya”, “Ester” and M.Levyant in Music Salon and poems of Samara Jewish poets in Poetic Room, get to know about unique printed materials in Readers Club and master receipt of national cuisine in Culinary Club.

Our museum is the unique world, world of those people who participated in its creation. We were trying to include everything, that we got to know for the two years of participating in Chibur project, that we learned on tradition lessons in our school, those stories and legends we had heard in our family, that our home people told us – who had been on the war and worked in rearward, taught, treated, created and founded Jewish community organizations and religious centres. Only in this year no less than 100 meetings, home and official visits, 24 video and 5 audio interviews, speech at the International research and practice conference, had been made for the project’s object, goals and realization.

Our project, devoted to the history of Samara Jewish community, is finished, and it became the part of that community as well. Now we could be sure that new museum is known in Samara and not only here. Respectable persons put their commentaries in our feedback form: words of support gratitude and understanding. They wrote about importance and scale of the project, about its significance for the city and for those, who are living here, underline the uniqueness of information that had been gathered, great amount of work, that had been done, interesting and original form of representation. All this allows us saying that museum of Jewish history of Samara is successful. And we will do all the best for museum development after summarizing the contest’s results.