Spain hosts its first international conference on the Holocaust - Haaretz

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Last update - 19:15 30/09/2007

Spain hosts its first international conference on the Holocaust

By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent

Spain recently hosted its first international conference on the Holocaust, as Spanish schools prepare to introduce the Holocaust into their national history curriculum in the near future.

The conference on the Holocaust and its significance today was organized by Yad Vashem's International Institute for Holocaust Research (IIHR) and was held at the High Council for Scientific Investigations in Madrid.

Experts and teachers from Israel and from across Europe attended the gathering, which ended Wednesday.

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Prof. David Bankier, head of IIHR, said the idea for the conference grew out of "Spain's desire to be part of what is happening in Europe." He cited the country's decision to join the European Union's task force for Holocaust education. Bankier said that although Spain's involvement in the Holocaust was limited - on the one hand, Spain refused to shelter Jews who had escaped via the Pyrenees Mountains, while on the other hand Spanish diplomats assisted in efforts in Budapest to save Jews - the country wants to be part of the growing European interest in the issue.

Spain's involvement in the Holocaust may have been limited, but two specific subjects connect Spain and the Jews. The first concerns the Fascist regime of Francisco Franco, which enjoyed the active support of Nazi Germany during its Civil War and continued to support Hitler during World War II. Franco made use of anti-Semitic motifs in his propaganda, but in mid-1943, when he sensed the way the wind was blowing, he opened Spain's gates to Jewish refugees on the assumption that the action would help him after the war.

The second concerns the 1492 expulsion of the country's Jews. "The new desire to learn about the Holocaust is connected to the total ignorance about Jews and Jewish history" in Spain, Bankier says. "Even educated people don't know anything about the magnificent Jewish culture that existed here."

In attendance at the conference, which was sponsored by the Marc Rich Foundation for Education, Culture and Welfare in Switzerland, were a large number of Spanish government officials, including the director general of the Education Ministry, who declared that the Holocaust would become a mandatory part of Spain's high school curriculum.

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1.	Holocaust Religion	19:37	\|	Dovy	30/09/07

2.	#1	19:55	\|	Reuben Jacobs	30/09/07

3.	Dovy jealous you didn`t have a holocaust?	20:12	\|	puzzled	30/09/07

4.	We havnt missed Spain since we were kicked out in the Inquisition	20:26	\|	Mr Gomes da Costa	30/09/07

5.	Truth about Inquisition not taught: Many Jews were "killed"	20:30	\|	Semsem	30/09/07

6.	Will this reduce High Spanish Antisemitism?	20:31	\|	Laila	30/09/07

7.	#1 50% of Israelis are Jews from Arab lands; not Europe	20:34	\|	Liliane	30/09/07

8.	3.Something good, for once	20:34	\|	KUTW	30/09/07

9.	to #1: those who forget the past are condemmed to repeat it.	20:44	\|	Matt	30/09/07

10.	Sounds very dubious	21:03	\|	Flis	30/09/07

11.	maybe they shuld have a conference on Inquisition too...	21:46	\|	r	30/09/07

12.	So they don`t teach it now?	22:04	\|	Bill	30/09/07

13.	Dovey Grow Up & Take Your Paranoia Meds	22:10	\|	Brad	30/09/07

14.	spain	22:10	\|	Shmuelshachor	30/09/07

15.	PURE MAKE UP	22:18	\|	RAQUEL	30/09/07

16.	Dovy (my foot) # 1 My greatest hope	22:31	\|	ChanahS	30/09/07

17.	What about Spanish victims?	22:59	\|	angela	30/09/07

18.	Raquel: Why?	23:08	\|	laura	30/09/07

19.	Hidden Synagogue	23:08	\|	Johnny Weintraub	30/09/07

20.	The first 14 responses	23:33	\|	Rabbi Izzy Lahm	30/09/07

21.	spains record	23:44	\|	sam el llanito	30/09/07

22.	To Laura	00:07	\|	Fliss	01/10/07

23.	answer to laura	00:14	\|	Raquel	01/10/07

24.	to angela	00:29	\|	raquel	01/10/07

25.	Spain Holocaust studies,even if a "make up"	00:40	\|	Luis	01/10/07

26.	holocaust	00:43	\|	tom	01/10/07

27.	in the primary school too	00:48	\|	raquel	01/10/07

28.	To Angela #17,part I	01:17	\|	HS	01/10/07

29.	To Angela #17, part II	01:18	\|	HS	01/10/07

30.	to rabby izzy	01:35	\|	RAQUEL	01/10/07

31.	España tambien es tierra judia	01:56	\|	Toni Coronel	01/10/07

32.	WOULD STUDENTS QUESTION THE OFFICIAL STORY OF HOLOCAUST?	02:03	\|	nobodysacred	01/10/07

33.	Inquisition, pogroms and Holocaust	02:15	\|	Bruce	01/10/07

34.	Correction to Post No. 19	02:21	\|	Johnny Weintraub	01/10/07

35.	Rabbi Izzy Lahm #20.	02:28	\|	Bruce	01/10/07

36.	Marranos	03:13	\|	sweis Melbourne	01/10/07

37.	Weintraub	03:17	\|	sweis Melbourne	01/10/07

38.	nobodyscared # 32	03:17	\|	ChanahS	01/10/07

39.	Dovy of toronto, this is for you and for those	04:15	\|	Cristo	01/10/07

40.	to Toni Mariscal...on #31	04:36	\|	Shmuelshachor	01/10/07

41.	Armenian holocaust should be studied too, also Rwandan	05:06	\|	sweis Melbourne	01/10/07

42.	Don`t forget the Republicanos killed by the nazis.	05:57	\|	Fortuna Benmayor	01/10/07

43.	To angela	06:03	\|	Fortuna Benmayor	01/10/07

44.	#17. Holocaust Unique; whole family units slaughtered	08:06	\|	Fortunee	01/10/07

45.	CHRISTO #39 KOL HAKOVED. GIVE THEM FACTS	08:27	\|	Miriam Ashkelon	01/10/07

46.	Inquisition=mini Holocaust...or the inspiration for the Holocaust	08:34	\|	Some Alien...	01/10/07

47.	We don`t complain enough	09:23	\|	almoni	01/10/07

48.	46Some Alien...: On Inquisition	17:28	\|	KUTW	01/10/07

49.	32. nobodysacred: Questionning Holocaust	17:31	\|	KUTW	01/10/07

50.	26. tom	17:33	\|	KUTW	01/10/07

51.	21. sam el llanito: spains record	17:36	\|	KUTW	01/10/07

52.	42.Fortuna Benmayor	18:01	\|	KUTW	01/10/07

53.	To KUTW # 52	20:05	\|	Fortuna Benmayor	01/10/07

54.	53. Fortuna Benmayor	21:55	\|	KUTW	01/10/07

55.	#54. KUTW	03:13	\|	eggplant36	02/10/07

56.	55. eggplant36	07:12	\|	KUTW	02/10/07

57.	Still with the tangent	14:31	\|	eggplant36	02/10/07

58.	57. eggplant36	15:56	\|	KUTW	02/10/07

59.	57. eggplant36: an addendum	16:00	\|	KUTW	02/10/07

60.	Mistake on my post 58	17:15	\|	KUTW	02/10/07

61.	And it goes on	18:28	\|	eggplant36	02/10/07

62.	Addendum	19:18	\|	eggplant36	02/10/07

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