To highlight the importance of preventing the Holocaust and mass atrocities, PCRC, Educators Institute for Human Rights, and forumZFD BiH held a conference in Sarajevo. The event, titled “Lessons from the Past for the Future,” marked the International Day of Remembrance of Holocaust Victims.

The conference was opened by Naida Hota-Muminović, Minister of the Ministry of Education of Sarajevo Canton, Elijas Tauber from Jewish Municipality Sarajevo, Fermin Cordoba from European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ljiljana Siničković from Forum Civil Peace Service – Bosnia and Herzegovina and Velma Šarić, president of the Post-Conflict Research Center.

The first panel, which was dedicated to the implementation of the manual Holocaust and Peace, was addressed by authors and partners of the manual Đuldina Kurtović (Third High School Sarajevo), Melisa Forić Plasto (University of Sarajevo – Faculty of Philosophy), Milica Jošić-Milinović (University of Banja Luka – Faculty of Philology) and Glorija Alić (OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina). Holocaust and Peace is an educational manual for teachers and educators, which from 2022/23 has been included in the curriculum for primary and secondary education in Sarajevo Canton, through the partnership of PCRC, forumZFD BiH, EIHR, Institute for the Development of Pre-University Education of the Sarajevo Canton and the Cantonal Ministry of Education.

The second panel, entitled Peace Education in Canton Sarajevo, brought together Samir Hajrulahović (Medical High School Sarajevo), Adisa Sokolović (Primary School Isak Samokovlija, Sarajevo), Selma Karović (Primary School Malta, Sarajevo) and Nermina Usejnovski (Institute for the Development of Pre-University Education of the Sarajevo Canton) – all professors who regularly use the manual Holocaust and Peace in their classes.

The conclusion of both panels was clear – without peace education as part of the formal curriculum in the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is no progress. The need for more intensive work in this area, but also for greater cooperation between teachers and students, was emphasized, not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also throughout the former Yugoslavia.

Source: The Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC)