EHRI – European Holocaust Research Infrastructure
EHRI Czech National Node
Top-quality research on the Holocaust is a prerequisite for informed discussion about Czech, European and world modern history and for understanding the risks and mechanisms of racism and genocide in their various forms. The European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) connects collections and sources divided by borders and languages, promotes digital methods and supports researchers. The Czech EHRI national node is a gateway to EHRI services and community and a signpost for Holocaust research in the Czech Republic.
Example of a document from the Terezín Research Guide
Research infrastructure
The EHRI Czech national node has been part of the research infrastructure LINDAT/CLARIAH-CZ supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports since 2023.
EHRI is funded by the European Commission under FP7, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.
Since 2018, EHRI has been on the roadmap of European research infrastructures and is currently transforming into a permanent organisation - European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). The Czech Republic supports this process through the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and is represented in the EHRI Interim General Assembly.
Main goals and services
EHRI-CZ provides the following types of services:
- Makes EHRI data and services available, including EHRI Portal, EHRI Document Blog, EHRI Editions, EHRI Geospatial Repository, Conny Kristel Scholarship, and others.
- Creates data on sources on the history of the Holocaust in the Czech lands and uploads them to the EHRI Portal.
- Links and enhances the victim databases and methodologically supports their further development.
- Applies digital methods to the digitised sources, including automatic text and speech recognition, identification of places, historical actors, keywords, etc.
- Supports research using spatial methods and interactive maps, including the MemoMAP application.
An overview of all 27 EHRI partners can be found on this page.
TEREZÍN INITIATIVE INSTITUTE
In 2023, the ITI identified documents contained in the Holocaust Victims Database for research on automated reading of archival materials. At the end of 2023, the database contained 185,166 documents relating to 176,239 persons.
The content development of the Holocaust Victims Database involves research at the State District Archive in Mladá Boleslav. Around 2,000 documents were scanned. The digitized documents are gradually being processed and prepared for import into the database and for subsequent publication on the Holocaust.cz portal. Since some of the documents relate to people who survived 1945, the ITI can only proceed with this step after the clarification of the data protection issues (GDPR).
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The last two days of this June were dedicated to the project of rescuing and revitalizing the original textile factory of the Löw-Beer family in Brno, known from the story of Oskar Schindler and his wife Emilie, who saved more than 1300 Jews during the Holocaust. A museum and an educational programme centre will be built in the former factory.
On Thursday, 27 June 2024, we gathered at the Academia Literary Café for the launch of Tomáš Kraus' book, which bears witness to our recent past. The book is about life in socialist Czechoslovakia in the second half of the 20th century from the perspective of someone whose parents both survived the Holocaust. What was the cultural and social scene like then?
Many guests attended the launch, including Jiří Drahoš, First Deputy President of the Senate of the Czech Republic, and Tomáš Töpfer, actor, director, scriptwriter, former theatre director and senator.
The book is available in bookstores and online.
June 28th marks 56 years since the Stonewall Riots. Since 1970, June has been celebrated as Pride Month, and serves to support and celebrate queer folks. It commemorates the riot, which took place in the US, and was a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ rights movement. It’s a time for remembrance and celebration, and a reminder of the ongoing fight against discrimination and the need for continued progress toward full equality.
At Terezin Initiative Institute, our mission is to remember Holocaust victims, research contemporary documents to return victims their faces and stories, and to leverage the knowledge and understanding acquired to promote tolerance, equality, and help maintain a pluralistic society through education.
Tomáš Kraus, director of the Terezín Initiative Institute, will launch his book, Next, Please. The literary event will take place on Thursday, 27 June 2024 at 5 pm at the Academia Literary Café, 24 Václavské náměstí, Prague 1.
Tomáš Kraus' book is a testimony to our recent past. What was life like in socialist Czechoslovakia in the second half of the 20th century from the perspective of someone whose parents both survived the Holocaust? What was the cultural and social scene like then?
You are all cordially invited.
On 16 June, a lecture by T. Kraus on the history of the Holocaust was held at the TII. The students of the Wilhelm Ostwald Gymnasium in Leipzig learned, among other things, about the project of the Arks Foundation, which is reconstructing a former textile factory in Brno into the Oskar Schindler Museum, a museum of the original owners, the Löw-Beer family and a meeting place. An insightful presentation was given by Daniel Löw-Beer, Chairman of the Board of the Arks Foundation, who coincidentally was in Prague at the time for a meeting.
Yesterday, 24 June, JUDr. Tomáš Kraus, Director of the Terezín Initiative Institute, gave a lecture introducing Jewish personalities.
And I'll take my mom's hand, smile at her and say:
"We'll get through this, won't we, my dear mom!"