Note to Correspondents

United Nations, Permanent Mission of Russian Federation Host Discussion

on Holocaust Education in Russia featuring Renowned Holocaust Historian

On Thursday, 8 November, the United Nations Department of Public Information, in partnership with the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, will hold a discussion entitled “From Forgotten Memory to Nascent Remembrance:  Holocaust History and Education in Russia Today”, featuring Ilya Altman, renowned historian and co-founder and co-chairman of the Russian Research and Educational Holocaust Centre in Moscow.

The event, which will be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York, is the second in a two-part series being held in observance of the anniversary of the Kristallnacht Pogrom of November 1938, and will take place from 1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Conference Room 7 in the North Lawn Building.  (See Note No. 6368.)

Organized by the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme, the discussion will present an overview of the history of the Holocaust in the occupied territories of the former Soviet Union during the Second World War and the evolution of Holocaust education in Russia today.

Professor Altman, the driving force behind the establishment of Holocaust education in the Russian Federation in the early 1990s, is the featured speaker.  Mr. Altman and his team of contributors to the Encyclopedia on the Holocaust in the Territory of the Soviet Union will examine how the preservation of memory and Holocaust education serve as vital links from the past to the present and future.  Efforts by the Russian Federation to counter Holocaust denial and recent attempts to glorify the Nazi regime and ideology will also be discussed.

Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, will make an opening statement.  Ramu Damodaran, Deputy Director for Partnerships and Public Engagement, Outreach Division, United Nations Department of Public Information, will moderate the event.  The event is open to the public and registration is required at holocaustremembrance@un.org.

The Russian Research and Educational Holocaust Centre has been at the forefront of Holocaust education and remembrance in the Russian Federation since its founding in 1992.  The centre maintains historical records, conducts research, coordinates Holocaust remembrance ceremonies and works closely with teachers to incorporate Holocaust education into school curricula.  Please visit http://en.holocf.ru/ for more information.

The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme was established by General Assembly resolution 60/7 in 2005 to encourage education about and remembrance of the Holocaust to help prevent future acts of genocide.  Its multifaceted programme includes online and print educational products, seminars, exhibitions, a film series and the annual worldwide observance of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust each 27 January.  For more information, please visit http://www.un.org/en/holocaustremembrance.

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For information media • not an official record