Center for Holocaust Studies

The Centre for Holocaust Studies at the Jagiellonian University was created 2007 with the mission to consolidate studies of the Holocaust into one academic research centre and to support and promote young researchers, PhD students and educators in this field. This mission is put into action mainly by the development of Master studies "Knowledge about the Holocaust and Totalitarianism" and the integration of the topic of the Holocaust into Polish school curricula via the annual Summer Institute for Teachers "Teaching about Holocaust". The main goal of the program is to provide teachers with various up-to-date tools for teaching about the Holocaust, scenarios for classes and appropriate materials in order to build an open, tolerant and democratic society. All programs run by the Centre are fully integrated with the Faculty and the Jagiellonian University. While there are other academic centres in Poland that carry out research on the Holocaust, the Centre is the first universi

ty level body whose sole purpose is to conduct research, educate and commemorate the Holocaust.

 

The Centre for Holocaust Studies closely coopearates with established in 2014 the UNESCO Chair in Education about the Holocaust. The major goal of both units is to teach about the Holocaust and related issues from the perspectives of history, political and social sciences, philosophy, law and cultural studies. The creation of the Centre for Holocaust Studies and the UNESCO Chair in Poland at the Jagiellonian University, has great meaning and importance. Since its inception the University has been known not only for the high quality of education it provides but also for the values of tolerance, respect for human rights and the democratic standards it promotes. Furthermore, since much of the Holocaust took place on the territories of occupied Poland, including the location of the major death camps, the Polish landscape has been indelibly marked as a result. The main activities of the Centre and the UNESCO Chair are not limited to teaching about the history of the Holocaust and genocides of the 20th century, but aim for understanding the meaning of the Holocaust, the issues of memory and representations of the Holocaust and the sources and effects of prejudices, racism and antisemitism for European societies and for the world.