Belarus

BELARUS is a former Soviet Republic. The people in the Soviet Union were provided with the official Soviet view of the Nazis as, above all, enemies of communism and with the war as less about the Holocaust and more about the heroism of the Russian people.

Information on the state of Holocaust education in BELARUS is limited by the number of Belarusian sources on the topic. Further, Jewish scholars there have pointed out that the national curriculum, as recently as 2003, did not include the Holocaust. A Belarusian scholar noted that the entry for “Holocaust” in the Belarusian Encyclopedia did not mention the Jews killed in Belarus from 1941–44. “And this [absence],” he argued, “illustrates the state’s stance.”  read more

Belarus has not established an official day of Holocaust commemoration. However, according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s 2010 report “Holocaust Memorial Days in the OSCE Region: An overview of governmental practices,” the government and civil society jointly organize commemorative events, which public officials attend. On January 27, 2012, the United Nations Office in Belarus organized a commemorative ceremony. The Deputy Commissioner on Religions and Minorities and representatives of the National Holocaust Foundation and the Union of Belarusian Jewish Associations and Communities attended.

In June 2008, the USC Shoah Foundation hosted training seminars for Belarusian educators.  Since 2010, Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies has hosted training seminars for Belarusian educators. The program intends to fill a gap in Holocaust education in Eastern Europe.
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=3413

The US Department of State, in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011, reports that antisemitic incidents continue, but with decreasing frequency. The Belarusian authorities periodically investigate these incidents.

RESOURCES

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES ON HOLOCAUST EDUCATION: Trends, Patterns, and Practices,  a publication of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and  the Salzburg Global Seminar, 2013
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LINKS

European Holocaust Research  Infrastructure
http://www.ehri-project.eu/content/belarus

The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Program
http://www.un.org/en/holocaustremembrance/2008/08%20UNICS%20activities.shtml

UNESCO:  Why Teach About the Holocaust?, 2013

USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive
http://libguides.usc.edu/content.php?pid=58585&sid=429357

Yad Vashem
http://www.yadvashem.org/