At 7.00 pm on 4 July 2006 the Latvian Foreign Minister, Artis Pabriks, will open the international conference Holocaust: Remembrance and Lessons which will take place in the Great Hall of the University of Latvia. The opening lecture will be delivered by Prof Yehuda Bauer with the topic: The Holocaust in the Context of European History.
Professor Yehuda Bauer is the Director of the International Centre for Holocaust Studies and Professor of Holocaust Studies at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has received recognition for his research work and articles in the field of Holocaust studies and the prevention of genocide. In 1998, he was awarded the highest civilian award in Israel - the Israel Prize.
After the introductory lecture, Foreign Minister Pabriks will host a reception for the participants of the conference.
The conference Holocaust: Remembrance and Lessons is an international-level event which will gather participants from all over the world to raise awareness, promote discussion on sensitive historic issues, and enrich the experience of researchers, experts and practicians from Latvia, from Western and from Eastern countries.
The President of Latvia, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, is the patron of the conference, and it is organised by the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in association with the Latvian Transatlantic Organisation (LATO) and the American Jewish Committee. The conference is sponsored by the Task Force for International Co-operation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF).
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