The Coalition for Work with Psychotrauma and Peace 

Projects, Groups and Associated Organizations

The Field Institute for Peacebuilding (Conflict, Post-Conflict and Conflict Prevention Studies)/
Vukovar Synagogue Center Project

Available Materials

Flyer in English   Brosura na Hrvatskom

Summary in English in Microsoft Word Format (also available below) 

Full Proposal in English

Status Report July, 2004 in English (in preparation) (summary below)

The Balkans regional Field Institute for Post-conflict Studies and intervention strategy - Model for the Integration of Theory and Practice May, 2004 by Kat Sohn, M.S., Conflict Resolution 

The Process of the Vukovar Field Institute for Post-Conflict Studies/ Synagogue Center:  Environment Relationships and Obstacles

Elizabeth Fearon, Intern, September, 2004

Summary (4 pages)        Full Study (31 Pages)

Photographs and Drawings

Summary of the Project

General Project Description and Executive Summary.

The recent conflict and post-war periods have had a devastating effect on the population of the region including eastern Croatia, northern Bosnia-Herzegovina and western Vojvodina.  While there has been some physical reconstruction, there has been little work on psychological and physical health.  Furthermore, the population is one in which civil society and democratization are new concepts.  Religion and ethnicity have played significant roles in the conflict and, unfortunately, little has been done to bring groups together.

The solution to these problems proposed here includes the rebuilding of the Synagogue in Vukovar to serve as multi-purpose facility for

·     A center for inter-religious and inter-ethnic dialogue, including ecumenical services, discussion groups and other activities designed to bring people together;

·     A center for the trauma of war that would include training of non-professionals and professionals, with an emphasis on the former, that would concentrate on specific groups in need including children and youth, ex-soldiers and policemen, concentration camp victims and civilian victims of war, and that would provide specific services such as an SOS line, drop-in counseling and addiction assistance.  This center would also provide outreach to individuals, groups and communities in the region.

·     A center for social transformation, including training in non-violent conflict resolution, civil society and democratization as well as assistance in these areas to communities and groups in the region;

·     A center for human and legal rights, including legal services without payment and research into human and legal rights in the region;

·     An inter-university field institute for post-conflict studies and conflict prevention, including courses in relevant subject areas given by local and international experts working together, the hosting of students and faculty from local and international institutions working on theses or other projects, in particular those related to reconciliation, recovery and conflict prevention and the hosting of conferences and workshops on relevant topics.

·     A museum and library of the Holocaust, the most recent war and ethno-political conflict in general.

 The staffing of the Institute/Synagogue Center would be primarily local, including members of as many religious and ethnic groups as possible.

The placement of the Institute/Synagogue Center in Vukovar is highly significant.  Throughout the region, Vukovar is a symbol of devastation and intolerance.  Locating the Synagogue Center in Vukovar as a symbol of healing, reconstruction and reconciliation would transform that image and would be a powerful message to this region and to the world that efforts in these directions can succeed.  Furthermore, Jews, not being members of groups that took part in the conflict, can serve as a neutral but moral force in the area.

The Institute/Synagogue Center would be a secular institution.  Its relationship with the Jewish Community of Osijek is explored later in this summary and in a separate paper written in January, 2004.  It would ultimately become a separate non-governmental organization.

The project is supported by a number of local and international religious and secular groups with wide experience in the region.

Participating Organizations.

• Jewish Community of Osijek, Croatia

• Coalition for Work With Psychotrauma and Peace, Nieuwe Pekela, The Netherlands and Vukovar, Croatia

• The Bench We Share Association of Osijek, Croatia

• Europe House, Vukovar, Croatia

Location of the Project.

Vukovar, Croatia, with outreach to communities in Vukovar-Sirmium and Osijek-Baranja Counties and later to bordering areas of northern Bosnia-Herzegovina and Vojvodina and to other parts of the world.

Background of the Project.

During the 1991-1995 war in eastern Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, religion was a major factor in the separation between people.  The region concerned, which in addition to the two areas just mentioned includes western Vojvodina as a cultural unit, is highly mixed.  There are more than 25 ethnic groups in the region, including at least 10 religious faiths.  Division on the one hand and inter-mixing on the other is not new to this area, such phenomena dating back to the Second World War and earlier.

Vukovar, which was almost totally destroyed during the war, has, since 1991 been a strong symbol for all sides in the region of intolerance, hate and destruction.

During the war, virtually the entire population underwent traumatic physical and psychological experiences of one sort or another.  Until now, these have not been dealt with adequately and there are high levels of suicide, family violence, addiction to prescription and non-prescription drugs and other psychological problems as well as related physical problems including heart attacks, strokes, stomach and intestinal problems, respiratory diseases and cancer.  Few facilities are available in the region for the treatment of persons generally and of specific groups such as ex-soldiers, victims of organized violence, civilian victims of war, children and youth and the elderly and there is inadequate human capacity to deal with these problems.  All persons dealing with people in the region, including clergy, police, physical and mental health professionals, social workers and workers in non-governmental organizations, acknowledge these problems and are themselves affected by them through secondary traumatization.

Further, the region is one in which, even before the war, there was little development of civil society and democratization, and little knowledge of the processes of non-violent conflict resolution.

Also, while legal services within the region have been provided by several organizations, these services are disappearing and/or are in danger. 

A number of foreign academic institutions have approached the participating organizations requesting internship places for their students and opportunities for them to carry out field work in connection with their masters and doctoral theses.  There has also been a strong desire expressed by these institutions for cooperative studies and a location in which fieldwork can be related to theory.

Thus, the participating organizations feel a strong need for a location for the training of non-professionals and professionals in psychotrauma, non-violent conflict resolution, democratization and civil society, for treatment for psychological and physical problems, in which it is possible to study how to make reintegration and reconciliation more effective and in which it is possible to study how to prevent future conflicts.  Both because of practical issues – Vukovar has excellent communication and transport facilities – and for symbolic reasons – to transform its image as a location of destruction and intolerance into a symbol of reconstruction and reconciliation – Vukovar would seem the ideal location in which to place such as Center.

Duration of the Project.

The elements contained in the project are intended to be permanent.  This proposal includes the first two years of funding.

Objectives of the Project.

·         Development of knowledge with regard to the characteristics of post-conflict areas, how recovery may take place in the most effective and efficient way and how future conflict may be prevented.

·         Reconciliation between religious and ethnic groups in Croatia and the surrounding regions of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Vojvodina.

·         Development of democratization of civil society in Croatia and the surrounding regions of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Vojvodina.

Goals of the Project.

·         Establishment of an inter-university field institute for the study of the characteristics of post-conflict areas, the most effective and efficient ways of carrying out recovery and growth of such areas and how to prevent conflict from arising in the future.

·         Development of dialogue between ethnic and religious groups.

·         Development of capacity to deal with issues of the trauma of war and its consequences for physical and mental health.

·         Development of capacity to deal with non-violent conflict resolution.

·         Development of capacity in civil society and democratization.

·         Continuing provision of legal services which are free to the population.

·         Research into the human and civil rights problems of the region and of post-conflict areas generally.

·         Provision of information on the region during its many conflicts, particularly during the Holocaust and the most recent conflict, as well as on ethno-political conflict in general.

Beneficiaries of the Project.

·         Local residents benefiting from the programs of the Institute/Synagogue Center

·         Locals and internationals trained in the skills, knowledge and attitudes being taught by the Center.

·         Academics and students taking part in internships, doing their BA, Masters and doctoral theses and doing research in association with the Center.

·         Local, national and international governmental and non-governmental agencies using the results of the Center.

Elements of the Project.

·         A Field Institute for Peacebuilding, Including Conflict, Post-Conflict and Conflict Prevention Studies;

·         A Center for Inter-Religious and Inter-Ethnic Dialogue;

·         A Center for Work on the Trauma of War, in particular, capacity building;

·         A Center for Work on Civil Society, Democratization and Non-Violent Conflict Resolution ("Social Transformation"), in particular, capacity building;

·         A Center for Human Rights and Legal Services;

·         A Library and Museum of the Holocaust, the 1991-1995 War and Other Ethno-Political Conflict.

·         Rebuilding of the Synagogue in Vukovar as a multi-purpose center as well as a monument to tolerance;

Activities.

• Rebuilding the Synagogue in Vukovar for use as a multi-purpose center using the rebuilding as an opportunity for out-of-work people to learn a trade.

• Discussion groups including all ethnic and religious groups in the area which will meet on a regular basis over a long period of time.  These groups will deal with all issues that come up in the context of reconciliation and understanding between people.

• Ecumenical services.

• Training and supervision of professionals and non-professionals, with an emphasis on the latter, in dealing with the issues of the trauma of war.  This training will deal with primary and secondary traumatization and will include lay people and the clergy of all faiths.  Trainers will travel to communities outside Vukovar.

• Treatment for the trauma of war, including an SOS line, drop-in counseling and specific groups for ex-soldiers, women, civilian victims of war, children, youth, addicts of alcohol and (prescription and non-prescription) drugs and the elderly.  Such treatment will include outreach to outlying communities.

• Training of local groups in non-violent conflict resolution, civil society and democratization.  This training will also include outreach to communities in the region.

• Assistance with issues of non-violent conflict resolution, democratization and civil society.  Most of this type of assistance will take place through outreach to groups and communities in the region.

• Provision of legal services in the region as well as research into human rights issues affecting this and similar populations.  Outreach will take place to individuals, groups and communities in the region.

• Establishment of an inter-university institute for post-conflict studies.  The institute will include courses in a wide variety of subjects related to the area.  Courses will be given by local and international experts working together.  The students will also be a mixture of locals and internationals.  Further, students and academics working on theses or other projects will be assisted in their work.  The emphases will be on finding solutions to the problems of reintegration, return and reconciliation and on cooperation between local and international people and institutions and between various ethnic groups within the three-country area.

• Establishment of a library and museum concentrating on the Holocaust, on the most recent conflict in the region and on ethno-political conflict in general will be established.

• Other educational activities such conferences and talks will be held in accordance with the general mandate of the project to encourage dialogue between religious and ethnic groups and reconciliation.

• The work of the Synagogue Center will be publicized locally and internationally through a website and through regular electronic and hard copy publications.  Furthermore, other publications, such as books and conference proceedings, will be issued as appropriate.

Methodology of the Project.

• A local contractor will be found to rebuild the Vukovar Synagogue on its former site.  The contractor will agree to employ persons who are out of work and who need training in the building trades.  The building will include a chapel, a hall where events can be held, rooms for group discussion and rooms for as many other purposes as possible.

• Discussion groups will be formed through the efforts of local church bodies and through general advertisement in the media.  They will include members of the main ethnic groups represented in the area.  They will be no larger than 16 people for optimal discussion.  There will be specific groups for clergy, for teachers of religion and for lay people although there will also be mixed groups.  Groups will take place bi-weekly for 3 hours. 

• Ecumenical services will be held monthly.  The leaders of the services will rotate and will include clergy from all religions represented in the area.

• Training and supervision for professionals and particularly non-professionals in the trauma of war will be carried out on a weekly basis for 3 hours.  The seminars will be highly participatory and will include a great deal of practice.  The course will last for as long as required for the particular group.  In the experience of the CWWPP, this is roughly 18 months.  After the course, supervision of the persons trained will continue.  An emphasis will be put on training existing NGOs and special interest groups (war veterans, women, youth, children, those addicted to alcohol and drugs, etc.).  Where such groups do not exist, an effort will be made to form them.  Furthermore, an emphasis will be placed on the training of clergy to deal with their own secondary traumatization and the primary traumatization of their parishioners.  Trainers will travel to towns and villages in the region to give similar courses at local level.

• Similar training programs will be given in non-violent conflict resolution, civil society and democratization.  Again, the emphasis will be on non-professionals, on the training of existing groups, on the formation of new groups and on outreach to communities in the two counties covered by the project. 

• The center for psychotrauma will include workers who are both professionals and non-professionals.  Non-professionals will be given a 12-week training course.  Those trained in the programs noted above will be encouraged to work in the Center.  The SOS line will be free of telephone charges and will operate for 24 hours per day 7 days per week, as will the drop-in counseling service.  The addiction program will include 12-step programs similar to those of Alcoholics Anonymous as well as additional counseling sessions.  There will be specific outreach to ex-soldiers of all ethnicities, to concentration camp and torture victims of all ethnicities, to civilian victims of war, to children and youth, to the elderly and to other specific groups.  Group sessions of two hours will be held for most of these beneficiary groups.  Individual counseling will be provided as required.  Specific methodologies, such as the workshops on trauma for children and youth of Prof. Arpad Barath, will be used as applicable.  In general, counseling will be held for one ethnic group at a time.  Mixing of ethnic groups will occur when all sides agree that they are ready for it.

• Standard methodologies of mediation and non-violent conflict resolution will be applied.  “Shuttle mediation” will, in general, first be used, particularly in the situations of high tension that periodically occur in the region.  The center will be available for intervention in communities in the region where desirable and will cooperate with local and international groups in this respect.

• Local lawyers will provide legal services without charge and will carry out research and advocacy on human rights issues in the region.

• With regard to the establishment of the Inter-University Field Institute for Post-Conflict Studies, a number of local and international institutions have already indicated informally their wish to participate.  A search will be made through personal contacts and through the Internet for other institutions with programs in peace studies, international relations, refugee studies, sociology, social work, psychology, psychiatry, epidemiology, economics, religion and other related fields.  These institutions and programs will be approached to become participatory members in the Institute.  Together with them, the program, mandate and operational methods of the Institute will be mapped out.  This program will certainly include joint courses, joint research projects and an exchange of students and faculty.  The Institute will host students and faculty wishing to study in the three-country area.  Methods to be used in this initial phase will include electronic contact and direct visits in both directions.  At the end of this initial period, a first conference will be held to determine final policy.  This conference will also signal the formal start of the activities of the Institute.

• With regard to the Museum and Library of Ethno-Political Conflict, which will be supportive to the Institute and to the other activities of the Center, a specialist curator/librarian will be employed to find works and objects of relevance to the subjects dealt with by the Institute as well as to ethno-political conflict in general.  The Holocaust and other wars in the Balkans will be a specialist area of the Museum and Library.

• Further, the Synagogue Center will host other conferences and local activities relevant to its general mandate of reconciliation and tolerance in the region.  These may be initiated by local or external groups. 

• Methodology of publicity of the work of the Vukovar Synagogue Center will include a website, press exposure locally and internationally and a quarterly magazine in hard copy and electronic form.

Phasing of the Project.

·         Preparatory Phase.  This phase will include hiring of staff and setting up a preliminary office for the project.  It will last for 3 months.

·         Building Phase.  This phase will include the design and building of the Synagogue Center.  It will commence at the end of the Preparatory Phase and will continue for 9 months.

·         Training Phase.  This phase will include the training of the staff who will run the various elements of the Synagogue Center.  It will last for 3 months and will also include work on preliminary operational procedures.  This phase will run parallel to the Building Phase.

·         Preliminary Operational Phase.  This phase will include work on each of the elements of the Center in the period before the Synagogue building is completed.  This work will take place on the premises of each of the participating organizations and by outreach, that is, on the premises of the beneficiaries.  This phase is expected to last for 6 months.

·         Fully Operational Phase.  This phase will include the permanent operational working of the Center.

Staffing of the Project.

The Vukovar Synagogue Center will be headed by a Director and a Deputy Director assisted by an Administrator and two secretaries/translators and two additional workers.

Each element of the Center (that is, the Building (temporary), the Center for Inter-Religious and Ethnic Dialogue, the Center for Work on the Trauma of War, the Center for Social Transformation, the Center for Human Rights, the Field Institute for Post-Conflict Studies and the Library and Museum) will have a Director, a Deputy Director and a secretary/translator.

In the first instance, in addition, the Center for Inter-Religious and Ethnic Dialogue will employ 8 persons, the Center for Work on the Trauma of War will employ 12 persons, the Center for Social Transformation will employ 8 persons, the Center for Human Rights will employ 4 persons, the Field Institute for Post-Conflict Studies will employ 4 persons plus guest lecturers and the Library and Museum will employ 2 persons.  These people will be primarily local, including as many members of beneficiary groups as possible.

Volunteers and interns will be employed in the Synagogue Center and in each of the elements of it on an ad hoc basis.

Administration and Structuring of the Project.

The participating organizations, together with the Director and Deputy Director and with the Directors of each of the elements of the Center will form a Board.  This Board will have the right to invite prominent persons and experts to join its ranks.  Further, the Board will include members of staff and beneficiaries.  The Synagogue Center will ultimately form a new non-governmental organization.

Results of the Project.

The Synagogue Center will form an important resource for knowledge and reconciliation within eastern Croatia, for the adjoining areas of Bosnia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and internationally.

Within the first two years, the following concrete results will be achieved:

·     A multi-purpose center with meeting rooms, a chapel and rooms for other purposes will have been built.

·     At least 5 inter-religious discussion groups operating on a long-term basis will have been set up.

·     Monthly ecumenical services will start after the first 9 months of the project.

·     At least 5 groups of non-professionals and professionals will be trained in each of the issues of the trauma of war, non-violent conflict resolution and civil society/democratization.

·     A 24-hour SOS line and accompanying drop-in counseling will have been set up.

·     At least 5 groups will have been set up for specific groups of beneficiaries.

·     At least 520 legal contacts per year will have been provided and at least 2 papers on human rights issues will have been produced.

·     The inter-university institute in post-conflict studies will have been established and at least 10 students will have been hosted.

·     The library and museum of the Holocaust, the war of 1991-1995 and ethno-political conflict will have been established.

·     The publicity methodologies for the Center (website, periodic publication) will have been established.

Evaluation of the Project.

Staff and beneficiaries will evaluate each element of the Center quarterly.  There will also be an annual evaluation of each element of the Center by an external evaluator.

Costs of the Project (Summarized).

All amounts in Euros.

For the purposes of this version of the proposal, these are estimates.

Note 1:  This sum is for building maintenance.

Note 2:  This sum is dependent on the activities of the Institute and may increase.

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Summary of the Current Status

A paper on the current status of the Inter-University Field Institute for Conflict, Post-Conflict and Conflict Prevention Study and Peacebuilding is in preparation and will be published here.

However, the following points are relevant:

• the Jewish Community of Osijek, with the assistance of the CWWPP, is in the process of recovering the land of the former Vukovar Synagogue and other surrounding communal Jewish property.  This land will be used either for direct reconstruction of the Synagogue in its former external form but with an internal form appropriate to the Institute or for a building that has similar general lines and is appropriate to the location and the housing of the Institute.

• While the Jewish Community of Osijek is an active partner in the creation of the Institute and is working hard  for reconciliation in the region, the Institute itself will be secular and will be open to people of all faiths. Formally, the reconstructed buildings  will be rented to the Institute on a long-term lease for a token amount.  It is thus our joint intention to bring people together, not to further divide them on the basis of religion or ethnicity.  We must emphasize here that the Jewish Community was an extremely important and fondly remembered part of Vukovar society before the Second World War (see the Jewish History of Vukovar) and contributed greatly to it.  Work on the Institute is considered by the Jewish Community of Osijek as an important contribution to the reconstruction and betterment of the life of the region.

• The intern program already started by the CWWPP falls under the Institute and thus its activities have already started in some sense.

• All participating organizations have been actively speaking to universities and other educational institutions and have found a number of them, particularly in the US and the UK enthusiastic about participation once funds are found.

• We are actively working on fundraising for the building and for the program of the Institute.

• We welcome participation and comments.  Please send these to cwwppvuk@zamir.net.

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