Throughout the year, Yahad – In Unum engages in education outreach activities around the world to increase understanding of the history of the Holocaust by bullets and heighten awareness of the need to remain vigilant in preventing genocide.

Below are a few of the 2010 educational events in which Yahad participated.

Seminar for educators – helping to educate future generations

High school teachers from six European countries attended a two day seminar at Yahad – In Unum to hear presentations from experts on the about the history of Jews in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia and the Holocaust in Eastern Europe during the Second World War.   Yahad invited history teachers from high schools throughout Europe to the first in a planned series of seminars aimed at helping educators better understand and teach the subject to their students.

In addition to descriptions of Yahad’s research methods and results, participants heard presentations on the organization and operations of the Nazi’s Einsatzgruppen mobile killing units, the training of Ukrainian policemen, protection of graves under Jewish religious laws and the early roots of Holocaust denial.

Educational outreach launched in Latin America during visit to Argentina

Yahad extended its educational efforts to Latin America with a series of presentations to high school and university students and conferences with religious and governmental representatives during a visit to Argentina.  Father Desbois joined with Rabbi Isaac Sacca of Argentina and other local leaders to launch a new initiative to increase awareness throughout the continent of the “Holocaust by bullets.”  Local Argentinean associations, Menora and Shoah Generation, helped organize the week’s events.

At the Ort School, a Jewish school in Buenos Aires that is open to students of all faiths, Father Desbois’ presented the work of Yahad and the history of the Holocaust by bullets before an auditorium filled to capacity.  A meeting also was held with Eastern European Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Argentina after the war and plans were made for a Yahad team to return to gather the rare testimony from members of the group.

International workshop on pre-war Soviet administrative structures and the Holocaust

Leading experts from around the world took part in a special workshop held at Yahad – In Unum to examine the nature of pre-war local administrative structures in the Soviet Union and their use by the Nazis during the Holocaust role in Eastern Europe.  To shed light on the subject, scholars from Russia, Germany, France, the U.S. and Canada presented research findings exploring topics that included the Soviet system of agricultural collectivization, requisition policies and administrative structures during the 1932-1933 Great Famine, deportation policies, rural village characteristics and the functioning of and relationships between various organisms, administrative bodies and officials.

Caen

Yahad – In Unum’s donation to the CAEN Memorial in Normandy of objects and documents recovered during research investigations in Eastern Europe was formalized at a public conference held at the CAEN Memorial in November.  The Memorial is one of the leading European memorial sites welcoming annually 400,000 visitors and is dedicated to remembrance of 20th century conflict, including World War II, and to the theme of peace.

Yahad donated more than 150 artifacts, photos and documents which will be conserved by the Memorial.  Objects include bullet cartridges and weapons found adjacent to mass grave sites as well as personal effects discarded by victims in the moments prior to their execution or left behind in their homes.

At the conference, held before an audience of educators and students, members of Yahad’s research teams participated in a roundtable discussion on Yahad’s work and methodology that was moderated by Denis Peschanski, Chairman of the CAEN Memorial’s Scientific Council.  An audience of 200 people also heard an evening presentation by Father Desbois on the Holocaust by bullets.

Thursdays at CERRESE

Yahad’s Thursdays at CERRESE program featured a wide array of speakers in 2010, part of the mission to present perspectives about the Holocaust emanating today from different disciplines: history, sociology, political science, geopolitics, art, literature and psychoanalysis.

Among the highlights from a very full season:

• an appearance by noted author, international relations professor and geopolitics expert Frederic  Encel, interviewed by Father Desbois;
• a presentation by Suzanne Brown-Fleming of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum discussing research results from the secret archives from the Third Reich era opened by the Vatican;
• author, sociologist and CNRS researcher Gérard Rabinovitch speaking on “The Behemoth and the destructive drive in human society.”
• author Michel Gurfinkiel on “The status under Jewish religious law of the remains of Holocaust victims.”
• psychoanalyst Jean-Jacques Moscovitz on “Witnessing and the relationship to truth.”

The 2010 season concluded with a showing of the film, La Rafle (The Round-up), a film about the 1942 rounding up of French police of 13,000 Jews, locked in the Vel d’Hiver cycling velodrome before being transported to the death camps.  Following the film, Father Desbois moderated an audience exchange with Director Roselyn Bosch and Producer Alain Goldman about the making of the film and the reaction in France since its release in March.

Madrid conference

Yahad joined with other experts from throughout the world in Madrid for a conference on the Holocaust in Eastern Europe organized by Yahad in cooperation with the Spanish Foreign Ministry and Casa Seferad Israel. Yahad’s presentation included a demonstration of the oral testimonial process with Father Desbois interviewing Yosip, who as a 14-year-old boy, was forced to dig the pit for a mass execution in Bibrka, Ukraine.   Father Desbois and Yahad Research Director, Patrice Bensimon, also reported on Yahad’s first research trip to Romania to investigate the fate of the Roma deported during the war

Among others present at the conference were Beate and Serge Klarsfeld who made a presentation on French children that were deported to the death camps.

European Parliament presentation and exhibition

A special presentation at the European Parliament in Brussels by Father Desbois on the work of Yahad – In Unum was attended by 150 members of Parliament, staff and other dignitaries.  Czech Republic MEP, Libor Roucek, introduced Father Desbois and underlined the importance of Yahad’s work in documenting the atrocities of the past. Ukraine’s ambassador to the EU, Andri Veselovsky, expressed support for Yahad’s important work and expressed the hope that the Holocaust by Bullets exhibition would one day come to the Ukraine. German MEP Elmar Brok expressed appreciation to Father Desbois and Yahad “for reminding us of the duty we all have to future generations.”

The Parliament also hosted a special photo exhibition of Yahad’s work during the same week.  A video profile was posted on EuroparlTV, the Parliament’s television channel, and translated into 21 languages.  An article on Yahad – In Unum was included in the European Commission’s newsletter, which is sent to 33,000 members of the European Union community.