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Rethinking Holocaust Education – An International Reflection on the Challenges for the Future

Forty-one people from 14 countries and 34 organizations – including museums, academic institutions, memorial sites, and research centers – took part in the international seminar Rethinking Holocaust Education at the Auschwitz Memorial.

 

The meeting, held on 7–10 September, marked the launch of a year-long project carried out jointly by the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust at the Auschwitz Memorial and the Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum in Israel.

The project was organized in the format of a hackathon, which usually tasks participants, often from the IT world, with solving a specific problem. In this case, each group was tasked with addressing a specific challenge related to Holocaust education, resulting in the outline of a comprehensive project designed to address that challenge.

The six key questions were:

1. How can we preserve and strengthen the impact of Holocaust education when so many years have passed?
2. How can Holocaust education respond to rising antisemitism and serve as an effective tool to combat it?
3. What can be done to make Holocaust education accessible to everyone?
4. How can we combine the specifically Jewish perspective on the Holocaust with the universal lessons of this tragedy for humanity in education?
5. What can be done to ensure Holocaust education remains authentic despite the passing of Survivors?
6. How can we respond to distortions and falsifications concerning the Holocaust?

During the seminar, participants worked in international teams under the guidance of ten mentors, experts in education, history, antisemitism, innovation, content creation, and social media.

‘As part of a project carried out in cooperation between our Museum and the Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum, we invited educators from 14 countries who work daily in the field of Holocaust education. By combining their knowledge and vast practical experience in teaching about this unimaginable crime with innovative teaching methods, we aim to reflect on and develop entirely new educational approaches that will respond to the needs of contemporary audiences. This is particularly important in a time when we are all confronted with the question of how the memory of the tragic past can serve as a basis for reflection on our shared contemporary moral responsibility for the world in which we live,  both today and in the future.’ said Andrzej Kacorzyk, Director of ICEAH.

‘I hope that with this project we are beginning a long-term partnership with our colleagues at the Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum,’ added Andrzej Kacorzyk.

‘The collaboration between the Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum is an important and deeply meaningful step. In an era in which we are witnessing a rise in antisemitic incidents, historical distortions, and technological developments that are altering the way we consume and learn information, Holocaust education must undergo a fundamental rethinking. This project is a call for a creative approach to the way we educate and for finding relevant and meaningful methods. We should not settle for merely preserving the past but infuse it with contemporary, educational, and vital significance for future generations.’ said Yigal Cohen, Director General of the Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum.

The seminar program included a study visit to the site of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz, presentations on the work and mission of the Auschwitz Memorial and the Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum, and a panel discussion on the opportunities and threats connected with innovation in Holocaust education.

‘I am very happy that the Claims Conference chose to support this initiative. First of all, it brings educators from all over the world together to discuss very important contemporary subjects. Now that Survivors are leaving us, we have a lot of questions about rising antisemitism and what is going on in the world that needs to be addressed in education. If we want young people to take responsibility for their own future, then we need to give them the tools for that. Education has to change, not only because we are losing Holocaust survivors, but also because times are changing. Technology is a tool now, and we have to think together how to balance the different needs and issues that are coming up now in education, looking forward to the years to come,’ said Elinor Kroitoru, participant from the Claims Conference.

‘It is a humbling experience because we need to get out of our bubble and structure of how we think about holocaust education in our countries and institutions. We need to listen to ourselves and others’ remarks, comments and ideas. It is also a huge opportunity to learn from each other and someone else’s experience’ said Paulina Pętal of the State Museum at Majdanek.

In the coming months, until autumn 2026, participants will continue to meet regularly online in their teams to develop the projects they outlined during the meeting in Oświęcim.

Throughout the process, they will be supported by mentors and experts who will provide the necessary guidance and inspiration, as well as new and valuable tools for their work.

After many months of work, during the seminar at the Ghetto Fighters’ House in autumn 2026, participants will present fully developed projects. According to the organizers, at that stage, the projects should be ready for implementation, with a clearly defined target group, a detailed program, and secured funding.

‘We help people in hackathons to make sure they understand what the real problem is, the root cause, not the symptoms. Then we try to think who the audience is, because if you try to create a one-size-fits-all solution, it is not going to work. Who are the people for whom you are innovating? What bothers them? What makes them happy or sad? And only then try to create solutions for them. We try with ideation, coming up with as many ideas as possible and then narrowing down, by categories of ideas and finally finding the right idea that would be both creative but also sustainable, impactful and new.’ said Dr. Nir Tsuk of New York University, one of the hackathon leaders.

The Rethinking Holocaust Education project has been financially supported by the Claims Conference, the Center for the Study of Antisemitism at New York University, and The Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp Victims Memorial Foundation. It has also been recognized by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

 

Instutitions of participants of the project

 

Canada

·       Toronto Holocaust Museum

France

·       L’enfant et la Shoah – Yad Layeled France

Germany

·       House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Educational Site

Hungary

·       Holocaust Memorial Center Budapest

·       Jewish Theological Seminary – University of Jewish Studies

Israel

·       Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum

·       Moreshet

·       Museum Yad Mordechai

·       The Claims Conference

Italy

·       Institute of Educational Technology, Italian National Research Council

Netherlands

·       Jewish Cultural Quarter

Poland

·       Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

·       “Brama Grodzka – Teatr NN” Center

·       Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute

·       POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews

·       State Museum at Majdanek

Romania

·       Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities

·       TOLI – The Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights

·       Wilhelm Filderman Center for the Study of Jewish History in Romania

South Africa

·       Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre

·       The Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre

Switzerland

·       HEP VAUD (University of Teacher Education in the Canton of Vaud)

·       L’enfant et la Shoah – Yad Layeled Suisse

Ukraine

·       Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies

United Kingdom

·       UK National Holocaust Museum

United States

·       Echoes & Reflections

·       FASPE

·       Holocaust Museum Houston

·       Holocaust Resource Center of Kean University

·       Lead to Lead – a program from Zekelman Holocaust Center

·       Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust

·       The Colorado Holocaust Educators

·       The Zekelman Holocaust Center

·       Yeshiva University