10 years of EHRI
Karel Berkhoff and Reto Speck, EHRI directors
Clear mission
Since EHRI’s beginning, we have followed a clear mission: to enable new transnational research on the Holocaust by overcoming dispersal and fragmentation of Holocaust archives and expertise across the globe. We have approached this mission by integrating the holdings and expertise of archives and research centres and by offering virtual and physical access through fellowships, online services and training programmes.
First and foremost, EHRI enables scholarly research on the Holocaust, but it also serves a wider social, cultural and political purpose. The Holocaust is a formative European experience, and an intrinsic part of our shared history and cultural heritage. Holocaust documentation, research and commemoration therefore have relevance far beyond the walls of academia. Central to EHRI’s mission is a recognition that the darkest chapter in European history must be reread and refined by each passing generation, so that it may serve as a warning and as a negative foil against which we can define ourselves.
Continued relevance
Our mission and wider impact are as relevant today as they were ten years ago. Safeguarding, integrating and enhancing access to Holocaust archives remain key challenges. This has been powerfully articulated in the 2020 Ministerial Declaration of the International Holocaust Research Alliance (IHRA). Issued on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration and extermination camps earlier this year, the declaration reaffirms the commitment of the member states to safeguarding the historical record of the Holocaust and other victims of Nazi Germany, and it underlines the ongoing importance of “identifying, preserving, and making available archival material, testimonies and authentic sites for educational purposes, commemoration and research.” EHRI is fully committed to this mission. In our view the troubling recent rise of xenophobia, racism, Antisemitism and narrow nationalisms demonstrate that understanding the mechanics and legacy of the Holocaust is never a purely academic concern, but a prerequisite for the further development of stable, open and non-discriminatory societies across Europe and beyond.
Great strides
EHRI has made great strides to approach its mission over the last decade. We have developed the EHRI Portal that gives information about dispersed Holocaust sources, as well as the Conny Kristel Fellowship Programme, the Document Blog, EHRI Editions, and an extensive training programme including an online course and seminars. We have developed a committed and growing community around our services, and EHRI is now an important landmark in the Holocaust archive and research landscape. However, we are not resting on our laurels. In September this year we have launched the ambitious EHRI-3 project which will further
The first project of European Holocaust Research Infrastructure was officially launched at a kick-off event in Brussels on 16 November 2010. This means it is EHRI’s 10th birthday this week, and we thought this would be a fitting occasion to reflect on the project’s results and achievements, to stress its continuing relevance and to look forward to its future.