Task Force For International Cooperation On Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research

Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research in Slovenia

On 1 December 2011 Slovenia became a full Member Country of the ITF. This webpage is currently under construction; information on Holocaust education, remembrance and research in Slovenia will be forthcoming shortly.

---

International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2012:

There are a number of events occurring in Slovenia on 27 January 2012, and a full list can be found here (Slovenian language version available here).  These events include lectures, exhibitions, academic gatherings, the ceremonial laying of the "Paving Stones of Remembrance," the "Keeping the Memory Alive" poster competition, and the 67^th commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz at Festival Hall in Ljubljana.

Slovenia marked international Holocaust Remembrance Day with several events, some of which are mentioned below:

Award for Erika Fürst

On 27 January 2012, Holocaust Remembrance Day, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, awarded Erika Fürst, a survivor of the Holocaust, with the Gold Order for Services for her contribution to Slovenian and European awareness of the Holocaust. As a thirteen-year-old girl, Erika Fürst was deported, together with her family, to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Statement by the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia Dr Gregor Virant

To mark the occasion, the President of the National Assembly made a statement underlining that, despite the tragic accounts of Holocaust survivors and warnings about the dangers of intolerance and hatred of those who are different, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, violence and intolerance on the basis of race, religion and other circumstances are still widespread.

Meeting of experts at Maribor Synagogue

On 26 January 2012, a meeting was held in Maribor Synagogue to discuss the persecution of Jews on the territory of occupied Yugoslavia between 1941 and 1945 (Slovenia and Serbia) and the Slovenian Righteous Man, Andrej Tumpej. The meeting, entitled 'One Name Each Year', included contributions by Klemen Brvar, Boris Hajdinjak, Renato Podberšič, Oto Luthar, Marjan Toš, and Irena Šumi. A film of the life-story of the Kalef family from Belgrade was screened. The film was produced by Centropa of Vienna and presented by Edward Serotta. The meeting was opened by the deputy mayor of Maribor, Milan Mikl, and a representative of the Jewish Community of Slovenia, Igor Vojtic. It was attended by the ambassador of Israel to Slovenia, Shmuel Meirom, and the ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Slovenia, Slavko Puljić.

The symbolic laying of Paving Stones of Remembrance

The symbolic laying of Paving Stones of Remembrance was organised by Maribor Synagogue and took place on Ulica kneza Koclja, a street in Maribor, on 26 January 2012 to honour six Holocaust victims from the Kohnstein family. Addressing the audience were the headmaster of the First Maribor Grammar School, Herman Pušnik, the representative of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, General Ladislav Lipič, the deputy mayor of Maribor, Janez Ujčič, and the ambassador of the Czech Republic to Slovenia, Petr Voznica. Students of the First Maribor Grammar School contributed a cultural programme.

On 25 January, a symbolic laying of Paving Stones of Remembrance also took place at Nasipna ulica 68 and Ulica borcev za severno mejo 2. Six paving stones were placed in memory of six Holocaust victims from the Kohnstein and Singer families. Drago Kobal Elementary School participated in this symbolic event, along with Maribor Library and the First Maribor Grammar School.

Pesnica Elementary School also took part in the opening of the exhibition 'The Holocaust 1933-1945, Courage to Remember'. The honorary patron of the event was the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk.

Presentation of a book by Dr Andrej Pančur, The Jewish Community in Slovenia on the Eve of the Holocaust

As the publisher of the book, the Celje Historical Association organised the presentation of 'The Jewish Community in Slovenia on the Eve of the Holocaust' by Dr Andrej Pančur, which took place in the Celje Historical Archives. Through a detailed analysis of demographic, social and economic structures, the book presents the first comprehensive overview of the Jewish community on Slovenian territory before the Holocaust.

Eternal Remembrance

The National Museum of Contemporary History mounted two Holocaust exhibitions. The first features works by students of the School of Design, with seventeen posters addressing themes related to Remembrance Day. The second, a guest exhibition entitled 'The Rice Mill: Death and Memory' was the work of Trieste National and Study Library.

Slovenian Language Resources

A compilation of newspaper articles and reports in Slovenian are also available.