Yad Vashem to open Holocaust Education Centre in Munich
The Israeli Holocaust memorial institution Yad Vashem plans to open an education centre in Munich. The aim is to reinforce the culture of remembrance and to counteract anti-Semitism.
Jerusalem/Munich (dpa) – The Israeli Holocaust memorial institution Yad Vashem plans to open an education centre in Munich with a branch in Leipzig. Yad Vashem reported that the education centre would be the first site of the memorial institution to be located outside Israel. Munich was picked for its education landscape and central location.
The goal of the centre is to reinforce the Jewish perspective in Germany’s culture of remembrance. The centre is going to focus on the experiences and voices of Holocaust victims. The dimension of the mass murder committed by the National Socialists is to be made more tangible, aiming to encourage visitors to consider issues related to responsibility, identity and the human nature.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Israel’s President Isaac Herzog referred to the project as an “important decision” in times of growing anti-Semitism and xenophobia. Minister of Education Karin Prien also welcomed the plans, saying that young people in particular did not know enough about the Shoah and the systematic murder of millions of Jews in the National Socialist era.
The smaller branch in Leipzig is to be aimed at teachers and young people in particular. The education centre could open in two or three years, according to Yad Vashem.
