The International School for Holocaust Studies has developed a wide range of projects and partnerships with multilateral organizations, such as the United Nations and others, to promote Holocaust Education and Commemoration throughout the world.
Responding to a practical need expressed by teachers and students with a view toward examining the connections between Holocaust and Human Rights Education, the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) of the European Union and Yad Vashem have developed this Toolkit to provide first insights into Holocaust and Human Rights Education content and methodologies, which can be used for teaching about and from the Holocaust and Human Rights.
The Toolkit is a practical guide for teachers and educators who wish to develop teaching projects, by linking Holocaust and human rights. In addition, some examples of teaching projects and learning activities of Holocaust Education and Human Rights Education are provided in the Toolkit.
Conducted biennially, the International Conferences on the Holocaust and Education have been an enormous success. Each International Conference focuses on a particular theme or aspect of Holocaust history and education, and participants include major decision makers from ministerial and governmental levels, alongside international experts, educators, and institution heads. The Conferences generally include a diverse schedule including panels chaired by leading Holocaust experts, participant workshops, guided tours, and more.
Previous International Conferences: 2018 | 2016 | 2014 | 2012 | 2010 | 2008
The Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and research consists of representatives of government as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations. Member states work together to promote and support projects on Holocaust education, commemoration and research on national and international levels. The Israeli delegation to the Task Force is comprised of representatives of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Yad Vashem experts.
Initiated by Swedish Prime Minister Göran Perrson in 1998, the Task Force currently has 27 member states.
As part of Israel's ITF chairmanship 2010-11, Yad Vashem has produced the "Holocaust Issues" sub-site. The website highlights five current issues pertaining to the Holocaust: present-day antisemitism, the Holocaust and genocide, the Holocaust and human rights, preservation and marking of sites, and dealing with the past. For each of the topics, Yad Vashem conducted a videoconference featuring an expert speaker, in dialog with international audiences. These videoconferences, as well as related materials, are featured online on a sub-site of the ITF website.
The Holocaust and the United Nations outreach programme seeks to remind the world of the lessons to be learnt from the Holocaust in order to help to prevent future acts of genocide. The outreach programme was created at the request of the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 60/7, adopted on 1 November 2005. The United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI) has created a broad initiative to encourage the development by United Nations Member States of educational curricula on the subject of the Holocaust, and to mobilize civil society for education and awareness.
On January 29, 2007, Yad Vashem, the USC Shoah Foundation and the CDJC in Paris launched a new website at the UN General Assembly.
Since 1999, the Council of Europe and the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem have worked in cooperation to promote issues of joint concern in Council of Europe member states, such as teaching the history of the twentieth century and Holocaust education and remembrance. In 2003, an international forum was organized in conjunction with the Council of Europe. During this seminar, participants from ten European nations exchanged ideas on their respective historical narratives and explored questions realting to various techniques and tools to foster education about the Holocaust. A volume based on the proceedings of this forum, including resources and lesson plans, was published within the framework of the Council of Europe's project, "Teaching Remembrance: Education for the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity."
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Strategic Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is involved in various educational projects concerning antisemitism and the Holocaust. ODIHR and the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem have developed educational guidelines designed for facilitators and educators. These guidelines are available in various languages.
Guidelines for Educators: Addressing Contemporary Antisemitism: Croatian | Czech | English | German | Hungarian | Lithuanian | Polish | Russian | Slovak | ukrainian
Guidelines for Holocaust Commemoration: Croatian | English | Flemish | French | German | Greek | Hungarian | Italian | Polish | Serbian | lithuanian | russian | spanish
Dr. Samuel Pisar dedicated his life to Holocaust remembrance and was a global advocate of Human rights. A Holocaust survivor from Bialystok, Pisar survived a number of concentration camps and a death march, from which he escaped aged 16 at the end of WWII. He was the only survivor of his family: his mother Helena, father David and younger sister Frieda were all murdered by the Nazis. Taken in by French and Australian relatives, he resumed his studies in Paris, later graduating from the University of Melbourne and earning doctorates from Harvard and the Sorbonne. In the 1950s, he served at the United Nations and UNESCO, before becoming an adviser to President John F. Kennedy, the State Department and Committees of the Senate and the House. In 1961, he was awarded U.S. citizenship by a special Act of Congress.
Who Is Your Hero? Stories from the Holocaust - A PROJECT FOR YOUR CLASSROOM
This project aims to illuminate the stories of those who dared to defend humanity when, all around them, evil prevailed. By focusing on this element of the Holocaust we invite our students to be inspired by the best of human character.
