Holocaust conference opens at Yad Vashem

More than 300 educators from 21 countries around the world will take part in a Holocaust education conference that begins Monday at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem.

yad vashem 88 (photo credit: )
yad vashem 88
(photo credit: )
More than 300 educators from 21 countries around the world will take part in a Holocaust education conference that begins Monday at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority announced Sunday. The three-day conference, entitled "Teaching the Holocaust to Future Generations," includes lectures, discussion groups and workshops that will explore and reflect on varied approaches to Holocaust education, with participants coming from China, Greece, Venezuela, Belgium, Australia, Romania, Hungary, South Africa, Poland, Germany and the United States, among other countries. Guest speakers at the fifth biannual event are set to include prominent Holocaust expert Dr. Deborah E. Lipstadt from Emory University, Canadian parliamentarian Prof. Irwin Cotler, and Prof. Rita Suessmuth, the former president of the German Parliament who serves as Chairperson of The Friends of Yad Vashem in Germany. "The conference will provide a forum for educators around the world to participate in a wide-ranging and enriching dialogue on Holocaust education," said Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev, stressing the forward-looking focus of the conference. "As the surviving generation grows smaller and there are fewer eyewitnesses, the job of the educator in ensuring the memory of the Holocaust intensifies," said Shlomo Lifshitz, president of Oranim Educational Initiatives, which is co-sponsoring the conference. The Canada-based Asper Foundation is funding the event.