Yad Vashem to open first educational center outside Israel to combat antisemitism, Holocaust denial

Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem, announced this week that it will open a new Holocaust Education Center in Munich, Germany, as part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen its educational mission.

The center will be established at Karolinenplatz in central Munich with support from the German government. It is expected to open to the public within three years, and additional extension offices are also planned in Leipzig, Saxony.

The announcement emphasized the importance of such outreach amid concerns over rising antisemitism and the distortion of historical facts in Germany and other Western countries. The centers are the first such facilities Yad Vashem will build outside of Israel and will be a resource for educators and policymakers in Germany and across Europe.

“Together with Yad Vashem’s expertise in remembrance, documentation, and teaching, the center is designed to have the greatest possible educational reach and impact,” read a statement from Yad Vashem. “While located in Munich, it is intended to serve as a national platform for audiences across Germany and neighboring countries.”

Yad Vashem said it will broaden its long-standing educational partnership with North Rhine-Westphalia to start the process of developing the Yad Vashem Holocaust Education Center into a nationwide cooperation model.

Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan said: "As we move further from the era of living survivor testimony, historically grounded Holocaust education is more important than ever. Through this Education Center, Yad Vashem will bring to Germany its unique educational approach at a critical juncture of growing Holocaust distortion, denial, and antisemitism. The choice of Munich, the birthplace of the Nazi Party, carries deep symbolic significance and reflects the importance of confronting this history where it began. Working together with our German partners, this center will help ensure that the truth of the Holocaust is preserved and passed on to future generations.”

The Yad Vashem educational center in Germany is entering its next phase,” said German Federal Education Minister Karin Prien. " The aim is to strengthen Holocaust education and remembrance, and to combat antisemitism across Germany and Europe. Knowledge of the past is essential to preventing such evil in the future. Many young people in Germany still know too little about the Shoah – the systematic murder of millions of Jews under National Socialism. The Free State of Bavaria, and Minister-President Markus Söder personally, have for decades demonstrated a strong commitment to Jewish life in Germany and to the fight against antisemitism,” she added.

Kai Diekmann, chairman of the Friends of Yad Vashem in Germany, said, "We are delighted by the decision to open Yad Vashem's new Education Center in Germany. This reflects the deep trust between Yad Vashem and Germany and builds on many years of successful collaboration.”