31 August 2009
An international symposium marking the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II and looking at its significance for the fate of the Jews will take place at Yad Vashem, Wednesday, September 2, 2009. The symposium, held by Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust Research and the Embassy of Poland in Israel, will take place in the Yad Vashem Auditorium, in Hebrew and English, with simultaneous translation. Pulitzer Prize winner Prof. Saul Friedländer will deliver the keynote lecture.
Following is the program:
| 09:30-11:15 | Opening Session |
| Chair | Prof. David Bankier, Yad Vashem and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
| Introductory Remarks | Mr. Avner Shalev, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate H.E. Ms. Agnieszka Magdziak - Miszewska, Ambassador of Poland in Israel |
| Keynote Lecture | Prof. Saul Friedländer, University of California, Los Angeles The Centrality of the Jewish Question During World War II in Jewish Eyes |
| 11:45-13:30 | Second Session |
| Chair | Prof. Yaffa Zilbershats, Bar-Ilan University |
| Lectures |
Prof. Marek Kornat, History Institute, Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw Prof. Yehuda Bauer, Yad Vashem, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Israel Academy of Sciences & Humanities Prof. Shlomo Avineri, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
At 17:00 a special event marking the Hebrew publication of Prof. Saul Friedländer’s book, The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945 (Yad Vashem and Am Oved, 2009) will be held in the Yad Vashem Auditorium. Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev, Academic Advisor Israel Gutman, editor-in-chief of the Ofakim series published by Am Oved Prof. Eli Shaltiel, and Prof. Friedländer will speak at the event. The event will be held in Hebrew.
All the events are open to the press. Journalists who wish to attend are requested to coordinate with the Media Relations Department: 02 644 3410.
