Two phases of the project

To view individual panels, click on the navigation links on the right.

Phase I (1998-2000)

The Neighbors Who Disappeared project proceeded in two phases. The first 12 panels of this exhibit were created between 1998 and 2000. Children and youth from 12 different cities around the country supplied their stories, transcripts of interview, photographs, and other archival materials. Using these materials, staff designers working at the Jewish Museum of Prague created the display panels.

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Phase II (2005)

The second phase of the Neighbors Who Disappeared project has its own focus and designation: A Tribute to the Child Victims of the Holocaust. In this phase, the focus was specifically on the stories of Jewish children, particularly those who attended the same school as the children and youth creating their panels.

In this phase, the Jewish Museum of Prague and The Forgotten Ones NGO (Prague, CZ) provided only the material and logistical support. In thise second phase of the project, the graphic art and panel layout was created entirely by the young researchers and artists themselves.

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Personal comments

In this section of the website you will find personal comments on some of the panels by this website's author (Petr Kuzmic). For obvious reasons, verbatim translation of the original Czech-language works do not capture all the differences between Czech and American history, culture, and social institutions.

Because I have lived the first 32 years of my life in Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) and the following 19 years - up the present - in the United States, I am hoping that at least some viewers of the exhibit might find my comments helpful.

Glossary

The following English-language terms that appear in the exhibit panels might need explanation.

Basic School

The Czech school system is completely different from the American model. The normal progression encompassing the elementary and secondary education contains two steps:

1. "Basic School" (Cz.: zakladni skola)
2. "High School" (Cz.: stredni skola)

There is no Middle School equivalent in the Czech Republic. The "Basic School" is a single uninterrupted progression from first through the ninth grades (ages six through fifteen).

Grades

At the "Basic School" level, grades are counted from one to nine (which is similar to the US system). However, at the "High School" level, grades are again counted from one to four (unlike in the US, where high school grades run from ten to twelve).

Thus, if a panel in this exhibit was created by high school students in the fourth grade, they are 18-19 olds corresponding to the twelfth grade ("Seniors") in the US system.