Volume 1 Issue 1 (2025)

This study focuses on the exceptional cultural and mental activities of boys interned in the Terezín ghetto during World War II, specifically through their secret magazine Vedem. Created within the L417 home, the magazine served as a space for literary, artistic, and philosophical self-reflection. Through poems, fairy tales, essays, and drawings, the young authors expressed their longing for freedom, the loss of home, reflections on the meaning of human existence, as well as depictions of everyday life in the ghetto - often infused with irony and humor. The study demonstrates that these creative activities had fundamental therapeutic, existential, and community-cultural value: they helped the boys preserve their human dignity, reinforced their identities, and allowed them to escape into the world of imagination. At the same time, Vedem functioned as a form of spiritual resistance to Nazi oppression and dehumanization. The magazine thus becomes more than just a historical document - it stands as proof that even under the extreme conditions of genocide, children are capable of creative expression, critical thought, and resistance through language and culture. Moreover, the study highlights the universal significance of children´s creativity in extreme historical situations, where cultural production becomes a means of survival, solidarity, and humanity.

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This essay explores how the hero’s journey framework can foster resilience among arts educators and students facing political, social, and institutional challenges. Through autobiographical reflections and contextual analysis, it demonstrates how arts-based practices—such as storytelling, poetry, and bibliotherapy—serve as acts of resistance and sources of strength amid funding cuts, censorship, and policies restricting arts and social justice education. Personal vignettes, including visits to schools and encounters with bans on social justice literature, illustrate storytelling as an act of defiance and resilience. Drawing on literature in resilience, narrative psychology, and arts integration, the essay emphasizes that embracing the hero’s journey nurtures hope, agency, and collective resilience. It highlights how arts practices can transform trauma into resilience, empower marginalized voices, and sustain cultural resistance in turbulent times. The critique of traditional hero narratives reveals how they often reinforce gender, racial, and class stereotypes, underscoring the need for more inclusive, culturally responsive frameworks. Applying the hero’s journey as a pedagogical tool helps educators reframe challenges as transformative stages in their own hero’s narrative, fostering perseverance and collective empowerment. Ultimately, storytelling and arts engagement are vital tools for navigating adversity, inspiring activism, and maintaining cultural resilience in the face of ongoing turbulence.

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