Last week the second Tel-Hai International Conference on Holocaust and Genocide was held. Marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the conference consisted of three days that included lectures by acclaimed researchers in the field. The first day of the conference was held at the Ghetto Fighters' House Museum in Kibbutz Lohamei HaGeta'ot and included a tour of the museum, a research workshop and participation in the traditional assembly that concludes the Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The second day of the conference took place at Tel Hai College and opened with words from the college's president, Professor Eliezer Shalev: " The great Warsaw Ghetto Uprising that occurred 80 years ago, and has since been rooted in our national memory, serves as a central motif in this conference. It is very important to remember and commemorate the terrible events that took place during the Holocaust, but at the same time we must continue to research, study and recount the heroic events that took place at that time".
The conference included an opening session that dealt with the story of the Warsaw Ghetto and the uprising. The second session was dedicated to the Ghetto Fighters' House Museum and its status as the first Holocaust museum in the world. The third and final session included guests from Rwanda, the United States and South Africa. This session dealt with various aspects of the concept of rebellion in relation to various events of genocide in the 20th century.
On the third day the conference participants were taken on a tour of the northern region, including an explanation of the different aspects and complexity of life in the Galilee region.
According to Dr. Tamir Hod, a Holocaust researcher from Tel-Hai College and one of the organizers of the conference: "The conference is of great importance due to the issues it focused on: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the Ghetto Fighters' House as the world's first Holocaust museum, Holocaust and genocide in Africa - between history and memory and more."
The conference was held with the support of the Alfred Landecker Foundation and the partnership of the Ghetto Fighters' House Museum and The Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre.