"Prejudice still exist around the world. Dangerous stereotypes about race, religion, and sexuality are still a part of everyday life. Not just in Austria, but all over the world," says Philipp Bulgarini, 19, from Linz, Austria. "I hope that the work I'm doing during my internship will educate the public about the Holocaust so something like this will never happen again," notes Philipp, who is interning at the Museum until 2002.
Philipp is participating in the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service (Gedenkdienst), founded by Dr. Andreas Maislinger in 1992. The program, financed by the Austrian government, is an example of the efforts the government is taking to recognize its own complicated history during the Holocaust.
Every 18-year-old man in Austria is required to do compulsory military or alternative service. As a conscientious objector, Philipp opted for alternative service. The Verein fuer Dienste im Ausland (Organization for Alternative Service Abroad) helps conscientious objectors like Philipp to prepare for their work and grants permission to send them abroad. While Philipp's internship will last 14 months, military service in Austria is only 8 months.

Researching internship locations on the Internet led him to the Museum's website (www.mjhnyc.org). The Museum's name -A Living Memorial- intrigued him. He knew that this was the Museum he wanted to serve because, Philipp says, "it teaches visitors not just facts, but personal stories."
Philipp's request was approved, and now the Austrian government officially recognizes the Museum as a place where Austrian youth can fulfill alternative service.
In preparation for his internship, Philipp was required to read a number of books about Jewish culture and history, and the Holocaust, and to attend a number of lectures, most of which featured a Holocaust survivor. Listening to survivors speak "was a touching experience," he says. "When you learn about it in books, it is nothing like when a survivor tells about his daily fight for life, his survival, the way he had to live in a concentration camp."
During his internship he is working primarily in the Collections and Exhibitions Department. Projects include translating documents, both new acquisitions and pieces being prepared for exhibit; research at the Leo Baeck Institute; and working with

Museum staff on a joint project with the Leadership Class of the Bronx High School of Science, Stuart S. Elenko Holocaust Museum and Studies Center.
One particular assignment that upset him was translating Nazi propaganda aimed at schoolchildren from German to English. Philipp says, "This made me really sad, all the propaganda material used by he Nazi regime. Young children, even elementary school children, were taught that Jews were inferior."
"I have never seen a museum like this," says Philipp, who visited New York City only once before. "The Museum's name has 'Holocaust' and 'living' in it; those are two different extremes. The first floor speaks of living, the second hauntingly describes suffering and death, and the third floor, most importantly, tells visitors that life went on."
When Philipp returns to Austria he has requests to speak at his former school and for the Gedenkdienst program so that he can relate his experience to others. "I have learned so many personal stories about the people whose artifacts are now a part of the Museum's collection. I feel as if I understand how they lived, and this deepens my understanding of the Holocaust's impact."