Development EHRI as a permanent facility enters final stage

Published on 08 August 2024

Last month the Dutch government sent a formal request to the European Commission (EC) to set up the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) as a permanent facility, on behalf of all the countries involved. This request includes an elaborate plan with important details, such as the location of the headquarters of EHRI in the Netherlands, the content of the legal entity to be set up and the agreed draft statutes.

Transformation to an ERIC

Trans-national Holocaust research, commemoration and education is the mission of the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI), 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.

EHRI is transforming from a series of projects into a permanent organisation in the form of an ERIC – a European Research Infrastructure Consortium, a legal entity set up by the EC with legal personality and full legal capacity. This transformation is an initiative of the many research institutions, archives and museums worldwide that have participated in EHRI projects since 2010. The first participating countries of the new international Holocaust Research Infrastructure are expected to include, in addition to the Netherlands: Belgium, Germany, Israel, Croatia, Austria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.

The set-up of this new Holocaust research infrastructure and the required staff are paid for by the member states themselves. The Netherlands is the hosting country and will house the central office of EHRI within the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam. In all member countries of this new EHRI organisation, national nodes will be established, involving a number of Holocaust related institutions that will work together with one acting as coordinator.

Approval in early 2025

It may take several months before the European Commission formally approves the plans, but the joint aim is to launch the new EHRI facility in January 2025, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. After the launch, EHRI will be able to continue many of its current activities, building on the previous European projects. In these projects, the participating research institutions have already developed a solid foundation for transnational online Holocaust research and training facilities.

More information about EHRI, its partners and their projects can be found on the EHRI-website.

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