About
Hillersche Villa is a sociocultural center in the German-Polish-Czech border region. Through a combination of cultural involvement and social commitment, it enables people to participate and to be active citizens, thus strengthening democratic development in the region.
Hillersche Villa - Soziokultur im Dreiländereck - STARTSEITE
The Zittau Jewish Cemetery is an exceptional place in an exceptional environment: built and maintained by a small yet thriving Jewish community, defiled and partly destroyed during the Shoah, neglected and violated in the following decades, and mostly forgotten by the local population in the German-Polish-Czech border region. While most traces of Jewish life in the town of Zittau have vanished, the cemetery still exists and has preserved Jewish cultural heritage, mostly in the shape of many a “Mazewa” − traditional headstones.
With MAZEWA, we will approach one of the last authentic historical spaces of Jewish life in the region as a place of digital learning and remembrance. Young volunteers from all over Europe will work with methods of heritage interpretation and digital mapping, bringing the Jewish cemetery into the digital age. The cultural events highlight different aspects of Jewish everyday life, past and present.
Anne Kleinbauer
educational consultant for Jewish regional history − project coordination
Anne Kleinbauer is 28 years old and works as an educational consultant at Hillersche Villa in Zittau, with a focus in Jewish regional history. She moved to East Saxony from Berlin, because she likes working with historic places and buildings that challenge our ways of thinking about cities, states and societies. The German-Polish-Czech border region and especially the Jewish cemetery in Zittau is such a place. Anne will be organizing both workcamps and the MAZEWA cultural events.
Simon Reuter
tourism consultant − instructor for heritage interpretation and digital mapping
Simon Reuter is a 29 year-old sustainable tourism consultant with a background in cultural studies based out of Berlin. His passion is to turn sites and places into enthralling and educational experiences for visitors. He has worked with destinations, guides and tourism stakeholders in Germany, Albania, Poland, Lithuania and the UK. Simon will be supporting MAZEWA as a work instructor, introducing the volunteers to methods of heritage interpretation and mapping of heritage sites.
Dr. klara maeve o'reilly
historian and project manager at Hillersche Villa − finances
Laura Bartling
graphic designer − graphic work and UX design
Moritz Friedemann
student − team coordination
Moritz is 19 years old and currently studying meteorology in Leipzig. In 2019 after finishing school, he moved to Eastern Saxony where he worked as a volunteer at Hillersche Villa for a year. He will come back to support the MAZEWA workcamps as a team coordinator.
Anna Hilbert
volunteer − team coordination
Anna is 18 years old and works at Hillersche Villa as a volunteer. Her focus is political education. She grew up in Eastern Saxony and will be supporting the MAZEWA workcamps as a team coordinator.