Societal changes and the role of Holocaust expertise
In the afternoon, two roundtable discussions were held. The first was dedicated to societal changes and the role of Holocaust expertise and featured European coordinator on combatting Antisemitism Katharina von Schnurbein, Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and Wichert ten Have (Advisor to the IHRA) with Veerle Vanden Daelen from the Belgian Kazerne Dossin as moderator. Discussants pointed at the rise in Antisemitism across European societies both in thoughts and deeds which led to a lively discussion on questions surrounding Holocaust education. Panellists reflected on the growing gap between historiographical advances and education, thereby calling attention to teachers’ training and highlighting the importance of devising new ways of applying the latest research finding to the curriculum development, textbooks, etc. Building empathy between different groups, encouraging non-binary modes of thinking beyond “we and they”, and improving levels of knowledge on the subject were identified as the main desiderata for contemporary Holocaust education.