AIPR mission 2 Message from President and Founder 5

Transcription

1 1

2 TABLE OF CONTEST AIPR mission 2 Message from President and Founder 5 Programmes 7 Raphael Lemkin Center for Genocide Prevention 7 1 st Raphael Lemkin Seminar 8 General goals 9 Participants 9 Instructors 10 Partners 10 Raoul Wallenberg Seminar for Advanced Holocaust Education 11 1 st Raoul Wallenberg Seminar 12 General goals 13 Participants 14 Instructors 15 Partners 16 Events 17 Collaborating organizations 18 Sponsors and supporters 19 Staff 20 Board 21 2

3 AIPR mission The phenomenon of genocide is a uniquely human creation. Since the dawn of history, it has occurred on all the inhabited continents among diverse ethnic, religious, social and geographic groups. It has caused the deaths of more people than all the wars and individual murders combined. It is difficult to predict, to prevent or to limit. Its perpetrators mostly face impunity. In sum, genocide is as pervasive as it is intractable. The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation [AIPR] was approved unanimously at the 2004 spring meeting of the International Auschwitz Council and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Since initial presentation at the 2004 Stockholm Conference, numerous individuals of prominence, including government, academic, religious and business leaders, have indicated strong support for the Stockholm Conference 2004 establishment of this institution. AIPR worked with leading experts on genocide and genocide prevention from the International Association of Genocide Scholars, the United Nations, the United States Attorney General's Office and leading universities from around the world. AIPR gained legal status in the United States in 2005 and in Poland in The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation has recognized the need for more effective measures to respond to genocide and violent conflict. Based on the failures of the 20th and 21st centuries of the international community to effectively prevent and stop the mass murder of innocent civilians, 3

4 there is a need for a stronger coalition of nonprofit, government, private and academic institutions from around the world with the capacity and knowledge to jointly address contemporary challenges related to peace and social justice, to strengthen democratic values and promote international cooperation in preventing violent conflict and genocide. The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation is dedicated to the prevention of genocide and violent conflict. Its mission is to achieve that pro-active resistance to genocide become an accepted position in the world and that genocide prevention be taught within five years in a third of the major universities around the world. In doing so we are set to challenge Albert Einstein's 1934 statement: 'The brotherhood of the well-intentioned exists even though it is impossible to organize it anywhere'. To achieve these goals AIPR created the Raphael Lemkin Center for Genocide Prevention and the. 4

5 Message from AIPR President and Founder Wisdom is the ultimate good It flows form knowledge. When moral passion is added, it leads to the search for truth. Knowledge is physical Truth is metaphysical Fred Schwartz I am proud to present to you the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation s 2008 annual report. The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of genocide and violent conflict throughout the world. At AIPR, we recognize the need for more effective measures to avoid genocidal situations. Our mission is to bring together an international community of nonprofit, government, private, and academic institutions to prevent and stop the mass murde of innocent civilians. Genocide is a complex, multifaceted issue and must therefore be challenged through a comprehensive, multidimensional approach. The continuing atrocities of genocide throughout the 20 th and 21 st centuries demonstrate that our world lacks an international force with the capacity and knowledge to jointly address contemporary challenges related to peace and social justice, to strengthen democratic values, and to promote international cooperation in preventing genocide. AIPR believes it is its duty to create this strong collaboration, and to take an active approach to stopping genocide before it happens. Our customized, week-long seminars featuring world-renowned scholars and policy makers are designed to not only educate government officials on genocide history and prevention strategy from multiple perspectives, but also to foster a community of policy 5

6 practitioners to support action for dealing with crisis situations when they arise. For the first time, AIPR s programs create a coalition of government officials, educators, and future leaders who are knowledgeable and trained in genocide prevention. The programs detailed in this 2008 annual report show the great strides AIPR has taken to develop such an international community, and the success its efforts have had to prevent and deter future genocides. I believe that wisdom is the ultimate good and wisdom flows from knowledge. The more we know about our past and about one another, the more good will come of our future. Fred Schwartz 6

7 PROGRAMMES Raphael Lemkin Center for Genocide Prevention The work of the Lemkin Center has inspired my strong belief that theirs is a worthy and achievable goal Former UN Secretary General Special Adviser for Genocide Prevention and AIPR Principal Advisor for Policy and Planning, Juan Mendez The Raphael Lemkin Center for Genocide Prevention was set up by The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR), in partnership with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. It had received the support of the former German President Johannes Rau, recently passed away, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, former US Undersecretary of State Stuart Eizenstat, Prince Hassan of Jordan, and former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski. The Center was set up to coalesce decisionmakers in the entire world for preventing genocide and armed conflict. Raphael Lemkin, whose name the Center bears, was a Polish Jew and lawyer who, already before World War II, had coined the term "genocide". During the war he was able to make his way to the USA, where he remained after the end of hostilities. In 1948 The UN Convention on the Prevention and Prosecution of the Crime of Genocide was adopted in part thanks to his ceaseless efforts. The Convention was the international community's response to the crime of the Holocaust. Its authors intended it to prevent mass crimes to be committed in the future. The reality of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, Darfur and Rwanda, however, demonstrated that, more than 60 years after the liberation of the camp at Auschwitz, humanity has not drawn the lessons of the crimes committed in World War II. The Raphael Lemkin Center, in collaboration with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, trains future policy makers who are currently up and coming government officials of different ministries from around the world, in the latest genocide and violent 7

8 conflict prevention and intervention strategies. This is achieved through the delivery of several uniquely customized week long seminars that take place on an ongoing basis throughout the year. The Raphael Lemkin Center organized its first successful seminar between May 12th and May 20th Further, the Raphael Lemkin Center is active in establishing a coalition that lobbies for the inclusion of comparative genocide history and elements of genocide prevention into the course offerings of universities around the entire world. Its first step in this direction is collaboration in developing this alliance with the International Association of Genocide Scholars. Tibi Galis AIPR Managing Director, serves on this body's Education Committee. Seminars 1 st Raphael Lemkin Seminar The week long workshop provided an intensive focus on the history of genocide and featured insights gained through interactive learning modalities involving lectures, seminars, facilitated discussion groups and personal field experiences. The general goals To build a heightened degree of awareness and sensitivity to the previous genocides To teach the lessons regarding the failure of our capacity to act, To foster an understanding of the responsibility of States to prevent, To empower the special role of participants to act, 8

9 To encourage participants to create a network of professionals within each State upon return to their host country, and To form a working group team that will follow up and retain contact. The workshop empowered participants by: Allowing a self-reflection mode that strengthened the understanding of the participating States about their prevention capacity; Building a working team model within each region, helping participants acquire critical knowledge through the interaction with others Exposing participants to in-depth competencies in the area of interest for genocide prevention Participants The seminar brought together government officials who have demonstrated the following characteristics intellectual capacity; leadership skills; and a passion for the subject of human rights and the rule of law. They were identified through their ambassador to the United Nations or through different layers of the executive branch of their governments. The first seminar had confirmed participation from the United States, China, United Kingdom, Argentina, Latvia, Austria, Cambodia, Finland, Burundi, Germany, Bosnia Democratic Republic of the Congo. 9

10 Instructors In order of presentation: 1. Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, Secretary of State in the office of the Chairmen of the Council of Ministers, the prime minister s international dialogue plenipotentiary 2. Dr. Israel Charny, former President, International Association of Genocide Scholars; Professor of Psychology and Family Therapy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Compiler of the Encyclopedia of Genocide 3. Janice Kaminer Reznik, President, Jewish World Watch; Darfur NGO work expert. Władysław Bartoszewski 4. Dr. Barbara Harff, Professor of Political Science Emerita, United States Naval Academy; Professor, Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University 5. Dr. William Froming, Professor of Psychology, Pacific Graduate School of Psychology 6. Dr. Philip Zimbardo, Professor of Psychology, Pacific Graduate School of Psychology and Stanford University 7. Joshua Smith, Research Analyst, Henry L. Stimson Center; Area of expertise: Military intervention. 8. Dr. Ted Robert Gurr, Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland; Specialist in ethnic conflict. 9. Stephan Sonnenberg, Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School; Clinical Fellow, Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program 10. Rene Pfromm, Harvard University Law School 11. Ines Wu, Harvard University Law School 12. Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz, Historian, Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum 13. Dr. Jutta Lindert, Professor of Public Health, University of Ludwigsburg; President of the Public Mental Health Section of the "European Association of Public Health" 10

11 14. Dr. James Waller, Professor of Psychology, Whitworth University 15. Dr. Paul Slovic, Professor of Psychology, University of Oregon; President, Decision Research Group 16. Prof. Sheri Rosenberg, Director, Human Rights and Genocide Clinic &Program in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies, Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University 17. Michael Surgalla, United States Department of Justice 18. Peter Patterson, Associate, White& Case, New York 19. Dr. Gregory Stanton, President, International Association of Genocide Scholars; Founder, Genocide Watch; James Farmer Professor in Human Rights, Mary Washington University Partners co organizers: the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum supporters: Foundation 'Remembrance Responsibility and Future' the Ford Foundation 11

12 Raoul Wallenberg Seminar for Advanced Holocaust Education The Raoul Wallenberg Center, in collaboration with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, trains future policy makers who are currently government officials mostly in Culture and Education Ministries around the world about the importance of Holocaust memorialisation and education and the impact these have on genocide and violent conflict prevention strategies. This is achieved through the delivery of several uniquely customized 5-day seminars that take place on an ongoing basis throughout the year. 1 st Raoul Wallenberg Seminar AIPR, in collaboration with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, and supported by the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF), organized its first Raoul Wallenberg Seminar for Advanced Holocaust Education between November 3 rd and November 7 th in 2008 in Oswiecim, Poland. The Raoul Wallenberg Seminars address more attentively the issue of Holocaust education and memorialisation and the policy impact these have on genocide prevention issues. The curriculum of the course will be complementary to the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF) educational guidelines. 12

13 General goals To advance the knowledge of participants about the general history of the Holocaust and challenge the lack of information and misconceptions about the Holocaust; To develop an in-depth understanding of the role of government officials during the Holocaust. This will address the loss of a society s commitment to democratic values and how this contributed to an environment within which genocide could take place; To increase awareness of the genocidal process by looking at other genocides and building upon the developments made within the field of comparative genocide studies to also enhance participants sensitivity to the presence of prejudice, racism and anti-semitism in public policy and its ramifications; To achieve a greater understanding of current policy mechanisms of response specific to their ministries among participants respective governments and consider how the latest methods of genocide risk evaluation and early warning can improve these mechanisms. 13

14 Participants The seminar will had a specialized audience, addressing mid-level government officials from one specific ministry on each occasion. The inaugural seminar targeted employees of ministries of culture and their equivalents in different countries. This was motivated by the importance of culture ministries in shaping Holocaust memorialisation efforts and the understanding of the Holocaust outside the traditional educational system. Their efforts and programmes reach out to the largest strata of society and can actively shape the relation between Holocaust history, memorialisation and genocide prevention in the understanding of their citizens. Future seminars will also target civil servants from ministries of education, ministries of finance and possibly ministries of justice. The activities of the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Advanced Holocaust Education are directed toward mid-level government employees from various nations. The seminars will bring together government officials who have demonstrated the following characteristics 1] intellectual capacity; 2] demonstrated leadership skills; and 3] a passion for the subject of human rights and the rule of law. Our class size is twenty participants, preferably two individuals from each of ten countries. We recruited participants from Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF) member countries. The ITF approved our seminar concept and commissioned us to engage their 25 member states. The first seminar had participation from Argentina (2), Serbia (2), Bosnia (2), Croatia (2), Romania (2), Poland (2), US (1), Hungary (2), Austria (1), Belgium (3), Macedonia (1), Azerbaijan (1) and Cyprus (1). 14

15 Instructors and programme The programme, designed in cooperation with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, was an impressive combination of interactive tours, country Holocaust memorialisation programme presentations, and lectures from current leading experts in the field of Holocaust memorialisation and education. A short list of the workgroup topics and the ones conducting them includes: Jews in Contemporary European Memories. The Sociology of Antisemitism, lecture and discussion conducted by Prof. Slawomir Kapralski, Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities Coming out of Amnesia in Europe. The Holocaust in Philosophy, non-formal Education and Art - lecture and discussion by Dr Jolanta Ambrosewicz-Jacobs, Center for Holocaust Studies, Jagiellonian University Polish Collective Memory of the Holocaust, lecture and discussion by Dr. Annamaria Orla-Bukowska, Institute of Sociology, Jagiellonian University Relevance of Holocaust Studies Today, lecture and discussion by Prof. Michael Berenbaum, American Jewish University Structures of Memory - Auschwitz and the Holocaust in Literature, lecture and discussion by Alicja Bialecka, ICEAH, Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Art of Commemoration, lecture and discussion by Teresa Swiebocka, Vice-Director, Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum 15

16 Representations of Auschwitz, lecture and discussion by Prof. Marek Kucia, Institute of Sociology, Jagiellonian University Auschwitz and the Holocaust in Films - Educational Implications, lecture by Dr Piotr Trojanski, Institute of History, Pedagogical University of Cracow, Auschwitz as a Concentration Camp and a Center of Genocide of European Jewry, introductory lecture and discussion by Dr Piotr Setkiewicz, Historical Department, Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Using Auschwitz as a central motif, the various instructors were able to draw on trends during the Holocaust, as well as common themes in its memorialisation, in order to introduce and address key challenges in Holocaust education and memorialisation today. Partners co organizers: the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum supporters: Claims Conference Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF) 16

17 Events October 20th 2008 AIPR breakfast hosted by Ambassador Stuart Eisenstadt organised in Washington, DC presenting its programmes to embassy representatives from nations participating in the first seminar and from a selected group of potential participant nations October 27th 2008 AIPR breakfast organised in New York by AIPR presenting its programmes to UN missions from nations participating in the first seminar and from a selected group of potential participant nations. Co-hosted with a European UN Mission. 17

18 Colaborating organizations The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum AIPR partners with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, grounding this initiative on the Museum staff's vast experience in Holocaust research and the guidance that the Museum and the power of the site of Auschwitz can offer genocide prevention efforts. AIPR's partnership with the Auschwitz State Museum will achieve galvanizing regional leadership around the world to prevent and inhibit genocide through their uniquely designed education programs which will bring together policy makers, civil servants, military personnel and others from around the world to study genocide and learn how they can prevent, curtail and end genocide in their countries. Jagiellonian University Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School Auschwitz Jewish Center 18

19 Sponsors and supporters United Nations Ford Foundation Claims Conference Foundation Remembrance Responsibility and Future Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF) 19

20 Staff Fred Schwartz is the Founder and President of the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, an organization founded in 2005 and dedicated to genocide prevention. Previously he founded [1995] the Auschwitz Jewish Center after identifying the crucial need for a Jewish cultural and educational center near Auschwitz. The Center, the sole Jewish presence, provides visitors with an opportunity to memorialize victims of the Holocaust through the study of the former Jewish life and culture of the town. The Center is a place of understanding, education, memory and prayer for all people regardless of race, creed or religion. Tibi Galis is Managing Director of the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation and PhD Candidate, Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University. Previously he was Research Director of Reform Agenda - Think Tank, London, Summer 2004 and Consultant at Genocide Risk Assessment, All Party Commission on Great Lakes and Genocide Prevention, February Beata Gladys-Schulman is Representative of Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation in Poland and Seminar Coordinator. She is PhD Candidate at Geography of Religion Department of Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Jagiellonian University - Cracow. Cindy Bernstein was a Program Director of the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation Maja Rosińska was and programme assistant during AIPR seminars in Poland. She is PhD candidate at Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University Cracow. Jan Gebert was responsible for Media and Public Relations during 1 st Raphael Lemkin Semminar for Genocide Prevention. 20

21 AIPR board: Fred Schwartz, Ann Kluger, Toma Lord, Allyne Schwartz 21