by Leah Goldstein

On 25-28 February, the first annual ICHEIC (International Conference on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims) International Forum took place at Yad Vashem, with participants from 12 countries: Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, UK, and Ukraine. The Forum was organized within the framework of the ICHEIC Program for Holocaust Education in Europe chaired by Lawrecnce S. Eagleburger—a special project that seeks to preserve and perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust and its lessons; to combat the rise in antisemitism; to safeguard human rights and to prevent racism and xenophobia.

Through the Program, Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies conducts a wide range of teacher-training seminars tailored towards educators from across the continent, providing them with the tools necessary for teaching the Holocaust in their own countries.

The Forum offered an opportunity for European educators and coordinators from various government offices and NGO’s, together with Yad Vashem staff, to take part in an exchange of ideas and to enhance cooperation on both a bilateral and European level. Participants examined a wide range of topics pertaining to Holocaust education, including the importance of teacher-training seminars in Israel and in Europe, and the creation of specific educational units by Yad Vashem for use in a variety of European countries. Zoltan Loboda of the Hungarian Ministry of Education spoke about the need for innovative change in Holocaust education: “Yad Vashem seminars have had a huge impact on changing teaching attitudes, encouraging educators to apply new methodologies in other fields of teaching.”

Participants also discussed the importance of creating a European network of educators, and specific methods to encourage post-seminar activities. Alessandra Chiappano of the Institute for the History of the Liberation Movement in Italy appreciated being able to meet other educators from across Europe and to discuss different pedagogical approaches: “I think the creation of a network of European teachers is of great importance,” she said. “Holocaust education must also be connected with themes such as human rights and democratic awareness.”

Initiatives in Europe

The first quarter of 2006 saw a flurry of cooperative activity on the European continent, with seminars and official visits conducted by School staff:

Italy
Italy is one of Yad Vashem’s most active partners in the field of Holocaust education. Following an Italian teacher-training seminar in Jerusalem last September, Yad Vashem educational experts participated in four seminars around Italy since the beginning of 2006. Staff at the School are also developing educational materials in Italian, which will soon be available online.

Slovakia
For the first time, a seminar was held in Bratislava, Slovakia, in cooperation with the Council of Europe and the Slovakian Ministry of Education. Teachers from Slovakia, Germany, Russia, the UK, Greece, Malta, Finland, Cypress, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Romania took part in educational workshops in which they learned about various Holocaust teaching strategies. An additional seminar is planned for the participants at Yad Vashem in the next few months.

Croatia
The Yad Vashem staff visited the site of a new museum in Jasenovac, Croatia, the site of a network of camps where hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, Gypsies and Croatian opponents of the ruling regime were murdered during WWII. Some 60 teachers from around Croatia participated in the seminar held jointly by Yad Vashem and the Croatian Ministries of Education and Culture, the Croatian Pedagogical Institute, the Jasenovac Museum, the Shoah Foundation and the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research.

Bosnia-Herzegovina
The visit to the Republic of Srpska was an important opportunity to re-connect with teachers who had participated in Yad Vashem seminars, as well as to promote Holocaust education in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The tremendous local interest in Yad Vashem was reflected in the large number of participants in the educational workshop—in which not only teachers but also journalists and other local residents took part—and the public lecture delivered in the municipality auditorium. This was perhaps the first time the participants had learned in detail about the suffering endured by the Jews, as well as about ways of perpetuating memory. They expressed interest in gathering names of Holocaust victims and in launching a similar project for Serbian victims.

Scandinavia
A senior delegation of the Swedish Living History Forum, initiated by Prime Minister Göran Persson, came for a constructive three-day exchange at Yad Vashem. The Forum is the ICHEIC partner in the first-ever Scandinavian teacher-training seminar to be held in July 2006, organized jointly with the Danish Institute for International Studies and The Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities in Norway. The Thanks To Scandinavia Foundation is also supporting this seminar, as well as the first seminar for educators from Finland to be held jointly with the Finnish Institute in the Middle East in April 2006.

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