European Holocaust Research Infrastructure

{{Short description|EU research project under the Framework Programmes}}

The European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) is an international digital infrastructure and community. It is a joint undertaking of Holocaust historians, archivists, and specialists in digital humanities. Through the development of heritage archives into research infrastructures and by connecting the knowledge of heritage archives and making that knowledge relevant for research,{{Cite journal|last1=Blanke|first1=Tobias|last2=Bryant|first2=Michael|last3=Frankl|first3=Michal|last4=Kristel|first4=Conny|last5=Speck|first5=Reto|last6=Daelen|first6=Veerle Vanden|last7=Horik|first7=René Van|date=2017-01-02|title=The European Holocaust Research Infrastructure Portal|url=https://doi.org/10.1145/3004457|journal=Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage|volume=10|issue=1|pages=1:1–1:18|doi=10.1145/3004457|s2cid=14115141|issn=1556-4673}} EHRI aims to support Holocaust research, commemoration and education. EHRI is coordinated by the Netherlands-based NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies,{{Cite web|title=European Holocaust Research Infrastructure|url=https://www.niod.nl/en/projects/european-holocaust-research-infrastructure|access-date=2021-08-03|website=www.niod.nl|language=en}} and is directed by Reto Speck and Karel Berkhoff. {{Cite web|title=European Holocaust Research Infrastructure staff|date=16 April 2020 |url=https://www.ehri-project.eu/our-staff}}

Objective

EHRI’s objective is to support the Holocaust research community by building a digital infrastructure and facilitating human networks. The infrastructure deals with the wide dispersal of sources and expertise across many institutions by connecting sources, institutions and people. EHRI provides access to information about dispersed Holocaust-related sources through its Online Portal, as well as tools and methods that enable researchers and archivists to work collaboratively. Together with over twenty other organizations, EHRI digitalizes Holocaust research to preserve it for indefinite future reference.{{Cite web|last=admin|date=2010-09-01|title=EHRI's Mission {{!}} What is the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure?|url=https://www.ehri-project.eu/about-ehri|access-date=2021-08-03|website=www.ehri-project.eu|language=en}} It aims to have as many institutions as possible join in via standardized digital connections.{{Cite journal|last1=Blanke|first1=Tobias|last2=Bryant|first2=Michael|last3=Frankl|first3=Michal|last4=Kristel|first4=Conny|last5=Speck|first5=Reto|last6=Daelen|first6=Veerle Vanden|last7=Horik|first7=René Van|date=2017-01-02|title=The European Holocaust Research Infrastructure Portal|url=https://doi.org/10.1145/3004457|journal=Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage|volume=10|issue=1|pages=1:1–1:18|doi=10.1145/3004457|s2cid=14115141|issn=1556-4673}}

EHRI's Vision: Integration of Holocaust archives and research.
EHRI's Mission: Securing trans-national Holocaust research, commemoration and education.{{Cite web|last=admin|date=2010-09-01|title=EHRI's Mission {{!}} What is the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure?|url=https://www.ehri-project.eu/about-ehri|access-date=2021-08-03|website=www.ehri-project.eu|language=en}}

Projects

= EHRI-1: 2010-2015 =

The EHRI-1 project ran from October 2010 until March 2015. It received funding from the European Union under the Seventh Framework (FP7) Programme. Together with 19 partners from 13 countries and numerous associate partners, the EHRI-1 project aimed to support the European Holocaust research community. The project delivered the EHRI Portal, an online environment that can be used by both scholars and the general public to search Holocaust-related archival material. The portal hosts reports that provide per-country information about the Holocaust history and archival situation, research guides and other services.{{Cite journal|last1=Blanke|first1=Tobias|last2=Bryant|first2=Michael|last3=Frankl|first3=Michal|last4=Kristel|first4=Conny|last5=Speck|first5=Reto|last6=Daelen|first6=Veerle Vanden|last7=Horik|first7=René Van|date=2017-01-02|title=The European Holocaust Research Infrastructure Portal|url=https://doi.org/10.1145/3004457|journal=Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage|volume=10|issue=1|pages=1:1–1:18|doi=10.1145/3004457|s2cid=14115141|issn=1556-4673}}

= EHRI-2: 2015-2019 =

The EHRI-2 project ran from May 2015 to October 2019, and it was funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 Programme. Consisting of 24 partners from all over the globe, including institutions from European countries that are traditionally under-represented in the research field, the EHRI-2 project aimed to make previously inaccessible archival material accessible to both scholars and the general public. In 2018, the project was added to the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures ([https://www.esfri.eu/ ESFRI]) Roadmap. The project concluded with the continual development of both the EHRI Portal (incorporating [https://irp2.ehri-project.eu/ IRP2], the International Research Portal for Records Related to Nazi-Era Cultural Property) and the facilitation of the expanding Holocaust research community.

= EHRI-PP: 2019-2022 =

The EHRI Preparatory Phase (EHRI-PP) project was initiated to transform EHRI from a project into a permanent European research organization. The EHRI-PP project started in December 2019 and it is scheduled to finish in November 2022. Funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 Programme, this project focusses on the legal, financial and strategic work necessary to establish EHRI as a research infrastructure that will provide a continual service. Consisting of 15 partners from 13 countries, EHRI-PP aims to secure the long-term future of trans-national Holocaust research.

= EHRI-3: 2020-2024 =

The EHRI-3 project started in September 2020 and it is scheduled to finish in August 2024. It is funded by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 Programme. Together with 26 partners from all over the globe, the third phase of EHRI aims to deepen the integration of Holocaust archives by developing tools and protocols that grant access to archives that are currently inaccessible, in addition to further enhancing trans-national access via the portal. The project will also focus on the integration of new communities and discussions about antisemitism, xenophobia, non-discrimination, and religious and cultural tolerance.{{Cite web|last=petrad|date=2020-05-13|title=EHRI Projects|url=https://www.ehri-project.eu/project-overview|access-date=2021-08-03|website=www.ehri-project.eu|language=en}}

Services offered

EHRI offers a wide range of services to both the research community and the wider public, for example:

The [https://portal.ehri-project.eu/ EHRI Portal], an online portal that aims to offer a single point of access to information on Holocaust-related archival material held in institutions across Europe and beyond.
The [https://www.ehri-project.eu/Conny-Kristel-Fellowships EHRI Conny Kristel Fellowship], a fellowship program intended to support and stimulate Holocaust research by facilitating international access to key archives and collections.
The [https://blog.ehri-project.eu/ EHRI Document Blog], a space to share ideas about Holocaust-related archival documents.
The Online edition of [https://early-testimony.ehri-project.eu/ Early Holocaust Testimony], a collection of samples of early testimonies of Jewish witnesses and survivors taken before the 1960s.
An [https://www.ehri-project.eu/interactive-ehri-online-course-holocaust-studies Interactive Online Course in Holocaust Studies], designed by EHRI partner Yad Vashem. This course offers a comprehensive insight into various primary sources essential for Holocaust research.
The [https://training.ehri-project.eu/ EHRI Online Course in Holocaust Studies], a resource aimed to provide teachers, lecturers and students with source material and background information in order to give them an overview of recent trends in historiography.
Various [https://www.ehri-project.eu/seminars-and-workshops seminars, conferences and workshops]

Partners

EHRI has 26 partners,{{Cite web|last=petrad|date=2020-01-20|title=EHRI Partners|url=https://www.ehri-project.eu/consortium|access-date=2021-08-03|website=www.ehri-project.eu|language=en}} representing archives, libraries, museums and research institutions.

class="wikitable"

|[https://www.niod.nl/en KNAW-NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies]

[https://dans.knaw.nl/en KNAW-DANS Data Archiving and Networked Services]

|The Netherlands

[https://www.cegesoma.be/en Belgian State Archives/CegeSoma]

|Belgium

[https://www.mua.cas.cz/en Masaryk Institute and Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences]

|Czech Republic

[https://www.yadvashem.org/ Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center]

|Israel

[https://www.ifz-muenchen.de/en/ Center for Holocaust Studies at the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History]

|Germany

[https://www.kcl.ac.uk/ King's College London]

|The United Kingdom

[http://www.holokaust.sk/ Dokumentačné Stredisko Holokaustu]

|Slovakia

[https://www.kazernedossin.eu/EN/ Kazerne Dossin: Memorial, Museum and Research Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights]

|Belgium

[https://wienerholocaustlibrary.org/ The Wiener Holocaust Library]

|The United Kingdom

[http://www.inshr-ew.ro/ Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust]

|Romania

[https://www.vwi.ac.at/index.php/en/ Wiener Wiesenthal Institut für Holocaust-Studien (VWI)]

|Austria

[http://www.memorialdelashoah.org/en Shoah Memorial]

|France

[https://www.jhi.pl/ Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute]

|Poland

[https://www.ushmm.org/ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]

|The United States of America

[https://www.cnr.it/en National Research Council (CNR)]

|Italy

[https://arolsen-archives.org/en/ Arolsen Archives Bad Arolsen]

|Germany

[https://www.bundesarchiv.de/EN/Navigation/Home/home.html Bundesarchiv]

|Germany

[https://www.inria.fr/en INRIA Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation]

|France

[http://www.holocaustresearch.pl/?l=a&lang=en Polish Center for Holocaust Research Association]

|Poland

[https://www.cdec.it/ Foundation Jewish Contemporary Documentation Center CDEC]

|Italy

[https://www.auth.gr/en Aristotle University of Thessaloniki]

|Greece

[https://www.jmuseum.lt/en/ Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History]

|Lithuania

[https://www.milev.hu/index.html Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archives]

|Hungary

[https://www.lvivcenter.org/en/ Center for Urban History of East Central Europe]

|Ukraine

[https://www.jewishmuseum.cz/en/info/visit/ Jewish Museum in Prague]

|Czech Republic

[https://www.jewishmuseum.gr/en/ The Jewish Museum of Greece]

|Greece

Type of organization

Initially project based, the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure became a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) in January 2025.{{Cite web|date=2025-01-20|title=European Holocaust Research Infrastructure becomes 30th EU-Recognised Research Consortium: A major milestone in Holocaust studies|url=https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/news/all-research-and-innovation-news/european-holocaust-research-infrastructure-becomes-30th-eu-recognised-research-consortium-major-2025-01-20_en#:~:text=Today%2C%20the%20European%20Commission%20has,30th%20ERIC%20established%20since%202011.|access-date=2025-05-15|website=commission.europa.eu|language=en}}

Published literature on EHRI can be found on the [https://www.ehri-project.eu/biblio EHRI bibliography] page.