European Holocaust Research Infrastructure Consortium (EHRI ERIC) with the Czech Republic as a founding member has been established
On January 20, 2025, the European Commission granted the legal status of the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) to the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI), making EHRI the 30th ERIC established.
Pic1_EHRI – European Holocaust Research Infrastructure
Trans-national Holocaust research, commemoration and education is the mission of the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure, and its main challenge is the wide dispersal of sources and expertise across many institutions. EHRI overcomes such fragmentation by connecting sources, institutions and people. The EHRI Portal enables online access to information about Holocaust sources, no matter where they are located. EHRI’s extensive programme of networking and training brings people together. Although EHRI’s primary impact is scientific, it also advances a wider social and political agenda. The recent rise of antisemitism, xenophobia and aggressive nationalisms demonstrate that Holocaust research is never a purely academic concern, but a prerequisite for open and non-discriminatory societies across Europe and beyond.
Since 2010, EHRI has been working to integrate Holocaust research and documentation through EU-funded initiatives. In 2018, it was included in the roadmap of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). Czechia joins the consortium as a founding member together with Austria, Croatia, Germany, Israel, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. Belgium intends to join EHRI ERIC in 2025. The Dutch NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies has been coordinator of the European projects and consequently, the Netherlands has become a hosting country of the EHRI-ERIC.
Pic2_EHRI – A permanent European Holocaust Research Infrastructure
The Czech Republic took an active part in the preparation process. On the Czech national level, services for EHRI are provided by Terezín Initiative Institute, Terezín Memorial, National Archives, and led by Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The named institutes enriched for the funding period of the Czech large research infrastructures starting from 2023 an infrastructure LINDAT/CLARIAH-CZ.