A seminar on teaching the history of the Holocaust both in school and outside of the school system took place on October 27-30, 2015, in Minsk. The seminar was part of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) program “Tolerance—Lessons of the Holocaust.” The seminar involved 29 school teachers, museum workers, and educational staff from all regions of Belarus.

The seminar’s intensive program involved both theory and instructional resource materials. The general theory and educational resource materials were fantastically taught by Anatoliy Podolsky and Vitaliy Bobrov, staff members at the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies, and Nadezhda Ufimtseva, who coordinates the “Tolerance—Lessons of the Holocaust” program. Lectures on the history of 20th century genocides and on the particularities of the history of the Holocaust itself stressed that the Holocaust is not just a tragedy of the Jewish people, but that it is a tragedy for all of Europe—indeed, for all of humanity. Belarusian lecturers Emmanuil Ioffe, Kuzma Kozak, and Tamara Vershitskaya spoke about the Holocaust as an integral part of the history of Belarus.

The participants of the program did more than just listen to lectures. They also participated in workshops and discussions connected to dilemmas raised by propaganda in occupied territories. The seminar teachers also suggested possible forms of guidance, particularly for working with memories, documents, and even cinema. A constant theme of the seminar was the idea that it is necessary to fight xenophobia, anti-Semitism, racism, and other forms of intolerance through fostering tolerance in children and teenagers. The Holocaust and the tragedies of other victims of World War II, National Socialism and Stalinism were used as examples of what an “innocent” stereotype or bias can lead to.

Ilana Akopyan provided a wonderful conclusion to the seminar with her tour of Jewish parts of Minsk, including a visit to the educational center at the “Historic Workshop” and the “Yama” (“Pit”) memorial.

The seminar was made possible through a grant given by the Claims Conference. The Kyiv office of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress also provided financial support. EAJC partners in organizing the seminar included: Union of Belarussian Jewish Organizations and Communities (Boris Gersten and Victoria Brumina), Public Association “Republican Fund Holocaust” (Vadim Akopyan), and the Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies (Director—EAJC General Council member, Dr. Anatoliy Podolsky).