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BERLIN — Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial institution, announced plans to open educational centers in the German cities of Munich and Leipzig — its first such sites outside Israel.
The announcement comes at a time when studies point to a rise in antisemitic attitudes in Germany, alongside declining Holocaust awareness among young Germans.
“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,” said Dani Dayan, the chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, in a press release. “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.”
As the number of firsthand Holocaust witnesses dwindles, studies show that Holocaust awareness among young Germans is declining. Around 40 percent of Germans ages 18 to 29 do not know that six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis, while more than one in 10 said they had never heard of the Holocaust, according to a survey published last year by the Jewish Claims Conference.
