YAD VASHEM

Yad Vashem is the national memorial in Israel that commemorates the persecution and murder of six million Jews during Holocaust. The memorial was established in Jerusalem in 1953. The Austrian Friends of Yad Vashem preserve the memory of the Holocaust in Austria with special commemoration and educational projects.

Education + Mediation
A key task of Yad Vashem is in the field of education. The International School for Holocaust Studies conducts annual courses for over 100,000 students, 50,000 soldiers and thousands of educators. Courses for teachers are offered in Hebrew and seven other languages. The university also sends its highly qualified employees to foreign countries to endorse and promote their knowledge and education about the Holocaust.

The Austrian Federal Ministry of Education and the Arts, too, offers this possibility specifically for teachers. There is also an opportunity to do the so-called "memorial service" in Jerusalem as an alternative civilian service.

Erste Group supports the work of memory at Yad Vashem since 2009, in particular the educational work of the International School for Holocaust Studies, and the collection and recording of documents from the Austrian State Archives. A German edition of the Holocaust teaching materials could be realized. This teaching material provides an overview of what happened during the Holocaust for students from 16 to 18 years of age, and will be made available to Austrian teachers with the aim to mediate the commemoration of the Holocaust in classrooms to promote a society free of racism in Austria.