About

In this part of the web-page, you can find more on the Center itself, about its beginnings, the goals and activities as well as about the mission and vision of the Center.

Beginnings of the Center

The establishment of the Center is rooted in and marks a culmination of a series of activities which have been carried out at the University of Rijeka in the last few years. From 2017 the Department of Cultural Studies participated as a partner organization in the project “Killing Sites: The First Stages of the Holocaust in Serbia and Croatia,” and since 2020, the Department of History has started a series of projects and activities in the area of Holocaust education. Through a cooperation with Northwestern University forged in 2020, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences received a one-time support grant that led to the introduction of the first course dedicated to the history of antisemitism and the Holocaust.

Holocaust education at university level in Croatia was further enhanced in 2021 when the University of Rijeka was chosen as a partner organization of the Claims Conference, one of the most prominent organizations when it comes to promoting Holocaust education at the global level, after a competitive call. The partnership made it possible to create two new undergraduate and one graduate course that revolve around the history of antisemitism, Holocaust, fascism, and genocide. The development has made the Department of History at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences one of the leading educational centers in the Republic of Croatia dedicated to these topics. The three courses have attracted great interest among students from different disciplines at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka. In their evaluation sheets, the students expressed eagerness for more courses and research activities connected to the history of the Holocaust. Accordingly, the Center seeks to integrate and strengthen Holocaust education, both at the University of Rijeka, but also at the national level of the Republic of Croatia and at the regional level of Southeast Europe. 

Goals and Activities of the Center

The goals of the center are to strengthen Holocaust education, to foster comparative and transnational research approaches to the topic, to establish a network of scholars as well as to encourage international cooperation, interdisciplinary and digital approaches when it comes to researching and teaching about the Holocaust and related areas. Facilitating and coordinating research and educational activities in Croatia and in Southeast Europe are key to the center. These include project applications, presentations of new research, publication of research in addition to organizing conferences, workshops, seminars and summer schools about the history of the Holocaust, other genocides, and related topics. 

Mission

The mission of the center is to further education and deepen research about the Holocaust, other genocides, and related topics in the Republic of Croatia and in Southeast Europe more broadly. 

 

Vision 

The vision of the center is to play a leading role in initiating, coordinating, and implementing research and education about the Holocaust in the Republic of Croatia while at the same time fostering comparative and transnational research about the Holocaust and related topics.