A learning and remembrance centre about the Holocaust in Luxembourg is set to open in May 2022 as the grand duchy takes steps to put into action a landmark restitution agreement signed last year.
The Luxembourg government in January 2021 signed a restitution agreement with the Jewish Consistory of Luxembourg, the country’s EJC affiliate
As part of the agreement, the state agreed to buy, renovate and cover the operating costs of a commemorative learning centre at Cinqfontaines abbey, in the town of Troisvierges which was used as a deportation site during the World War II.
Pilot projects at the abbey will launch mid-May 2022, the government said in a press release.
A fuller programme will be offered from the start of the 2022-2023 school year, including workshops against hate speech.
The Luxembourg centre for political education (ZpB) and the national youth service (SNJ) are helping develop the activities hosted at the new centre, which will be open for schools but also the general public.
The site will in future also offer more information about the role it played during the Holocaust, as the Nazi regime deported Jews from the abbey.
“Remembrance does not only mean remembering the past, but also showing respect to those who have lived through this painful history. Remembrance also means analysing the past with a certain critical thought, to prevent today any resurgence of hatred and any incitement to hatred. In this context, the Cinqfontaines centre will accomplish a double mission, both commemorative and educational,” said education minister Claude Meisch.
In this spirit, the centre will over the coming weeks welcome refugees from Ukraine.
“This will impact the activities of the centre, but this act of humanism illustrates the very values that the centre intends to defend and transmit”, according to the statement.
