Last January over sixty people working for EHRI gathered in Israel for a series of meetings to discuss our initial results. EHRI partner Yad Vashem organized the event, and was host to the 19 partner organisations involved. In addition to the General Partner Meeting, there were several smaller meetings and presentations at progress workshops on important EHRI topics like the development of research guides, a metadata model, the EHRI Community Hub, a thesaurus, the architecture of the portal and investigating surveys.

After reviewing the first year, next steps were also on the agenda. In EHRI’s first phase the focus was on investigation, for example through surveys, and raising awareness and involvement through the creation of our website and newsletters. EHRI is now entering its second phase in which it plans to build on its existing work, developing areas such as the portal, thesaurus and Community Hub. The Hub will be launched in Spring, and shall be another step forward in raising awareness and involvement. EHRI will continue to reach out to the Holocaust research community, for example through the fellowship and training programme.

According to EHRI project director Dr. Conny Kristel, the interest in the project is immense: ‘Apart from the participants that we started off with, many new organizations have offered their contribution in bringing together the world wide dispersed Holocaust archives. What has become clear to all people involved is that EHRI will not be another institution but a movement towards integration.’

European added value

The Director-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission, Robert-Jan Smits, was also present at the meeting in Jerusalem. He underlined the added value of the EHRI project: ‘The European Commission is impressed by the progress that the EHRI project, financed under the EU 7th Framework Programme and coordinated by NIOD, has made. EHRI is a project of great scientific importance since it brings together in a pan-European network, the national Holocaust archives, with the aim to stimulate research, facilitate access and preserve unique material on the Holocaust. The active participation of Yad Vashem in EHRI is key to its success.’

Advisory Board

Another important event that took place in Jerusalem was the first meeting of the EHRI Advisory Board. This board has eleven highly distinguished members from various countries and disciplines, all of great value to EHRI. EHRI is proud to present the members here: Dr. Wesley Fisher (USA); Dr. Edyta Gawron (PL); Dr. Michael Grunberger (USA); Prof. László Karsai (HU); Prof. Eric Ketelaar (NL); Serge Klarsfeld (FR); Prof. Jane Ohlmeyer (IE); Dr. Anatoly Podolski (UA); Prof. Seamus Ross (CA); Prof. Dave de Roure (UK); Prof. Dr. Stefanie Schüler-Springorum (DE; Chairman). Soon a more elaborate profile of the members will be presented on this website.

EHRI consortium: