News
Cadets and officers from the USA at the Auschwitz Museum
The International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust hosted a group of officers and cadets to Fort Leavenworth, participants of the Raphael Lemkin Seminar that is jointly organized with the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation.
In the seminar, which was held April 11-15, thirty-five Americans participated. They attended lectures by the staff of the Auschwitz Memorial Site, professors from Keene State College, as well as lecturers from Fort Leavenworth. They also visited the site of the former Auschwitz Nazi German Concentration and Death Camp.
The seminar was divided into five subject categories:
- History and Context
- Memory and Responsibility
- Pre-Conflict Assessment
- Responses During Conflict
- Stability Operations and Post-Conflict Transition
The lectures involved, among others, the history of the Holocaust and the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, the role of the German military in process of mass murder, the psychology of the perpetrators, the burden of proof in the face of mass atrocities, as well as characteristics of the righteous individuals and the role of the military in preventing such crimes.
Since 2008, the regularly held seminars are organized by The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, Raphael Lemkin Center, Raoul Wallenberg Center, and International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust. Their aim is to sensitize mid-level government employees from around the world to the problem of genocide; which includes its political, economic, and humanitarian consequences. The originator and sponsor of these seminars is a New York philanthropist Fred Schwartz. Since 2010, the seminars are also intended for participants who are in the military - officers and cadets from Fort Leavenworth.
