OCTOBER 2026
Dear Reader!
Since our first newsletter, the CERV-2025-CITIZENS-REM-HOLOCAUSTJEW community has continued to grow. We are pleased to share that almost 50 organisations have already joined our network, and our newsletter is now reaching almost 300 readers.
We are grateful to every organisation and reader who contributes to this initiative by sharing events, programmes, research, professional materials and experiences. Every contribution helps us to make Holocaust remembrance more visible and accessible across Europe.
Our common goal is not only to inform each other about programmes and events, but also to ensure that these opportunities reach as many people as possible. We encourage our partners and readers to share the programmes presented in this newsletter within their own networks, organisations and communities. By connecting organisations, researchers, educators, young people and all those committed to preserving historical memory, we can work together to ensure that the lives and stories of the victims are not forgotten.
The Holocaust was one of the darkest and most shameful crimes in the history of humanity. Remembering its victims is not only an act of respect towards those who suffered and were murdered, but also a responsibility towards future generations.
We warmly encourage all our readers to take part in the programmes and events presented in this newsletter, and to share them with others so that their message can reach as many people as possible.
the editors:
József VASVÁRI and Ákos GYÖMBÉR
1.) OCTOBER 2026 MONTHLY PROGRAMS
DATE
29. September – 1. October 2026
LOCATION
Forli | ITALY
EVENT DESCRIPTIONShaping a Shared Remembrance Model on the Forlì Massacre (IT) and Strengthening Memory Activism on the Holocaust
The first RETRACING Transnational Event will use this local history as a starting point to explore how micro-history, education and memory activism can contribute to preserving and transmitting the memory of the Holocaust and Nazi-Fascist persecution.
The Forlì activities will also serve as the first testing ground for the RETRACING Micro-History approach, whose experience and feedback will contribute to the methodology to be used by the partners in subsequent local activities.
MORE INFORMATION LINK FROM THE ORIGINAL NEWSLETTER
DATE
2. October 2026 | 10:00-14:00
LOCATION
American corrner, Kej žrtava Racije 2B Novi Sad | SERBIA
EVENT DESCRIPTIONWorkshop
Inclusive culture of remembrance in the classroom
Contemporary Roma and Jewish voices in education and commemoration.
In cooperation with: Terraforming
MORE INFORMATION LINK FROM THE ORIGINAL NEWSLETTER
DATE
3. October 2026 | 18:00 - Midnight
LOCATION
all over AUSTRIA with just one ticket
EVENT DESCRIPTIONLong Night of Museums:
KREUZSTADL MEMORIAL & REMEMBERS TRAIL: JEWISH LIFE IN RECHNITZ
Hungarian Jewish forced laborers were murdered in an open field near the Kreuzstadl. The information and documentation area uses display panels to explain how this came about. The "Jewish Life in Rechnitz" memorial trail, with its ten display panels, makes sites of former Jewish life accessible and tangible.
KREUZSTADL MEMORIAL (FROM 6:00 PM TO MIDNIGHT)
Free admission to the Kreuzstadl Memorial and the information area.
KREUZSTADL INFORMATION AREA (6:00 PM)
In an open field near Kreuzstadl, approximately 180 Hungarian Jewish forced laborers were murdered during the night of March 24-25, 1945. The information and documentation area uses display panels to explain how this happened. At 6:00 PM, there will be an opportunity to speak with members of the RE.F.U.G.I.U.S. association.
Memorial Trail “Jewish Life in Rechnitz” (6:00 PM)
The Jewish community of Rechnitz is considered the oldest in southern Burgenland. It flourished in the first half of the 19th century with approximately 850 members.
In 1938, 125 Jews still lived in Rechnitz. They were all expelled or deported by the National Socialists. The memorial trail, featuring ten information panels, makes the sites of former Jewish life accessible and tangible. Meeting point: Entrance gate of the Jewish Cemetery – Herrengasse.
LECTURE “WHAT REMAINS: JEWISH HISTORY OF RECHNITZ” (8:00 PM)
Location: Rechnitz Town Hall Michaela Taschek's lecture illuminates the extensive research on the history of the Jewish community of Rechnitz – from its vibrant daily life in lively exchange with other religions in the town, to its violent dissolution beginning in 1938.
MORE INFORMATION LINK FROM THE ORIGINAL NEWSLETTER
DATE
8. October 2026 | 10:00–14:15 CEST
LOCATION
Hofburg Vienna, 1010 Vienna | AUSTRIA
EVENT DESCRIPTIONKick-Off Workshop: Passing Stories On, Telling Them Anew. Refugee Stories from Nazi-Era Europe Today
This workshop marks the official kick-off of the MEM-ART UNI project. It explores how memories of persecution, flight and exile are passed from one generation to the next, how Holocaust stories can be told as the generation of eyewitnesses gradually disappears, and what new forms of remembrance literature, film and performance can make possible.
The programme includes a short reading and conversation with Austrian writer Vladimir Vertlib, the open panel discussion “How Do We Tell Holocaust Stories Today? New Perspectives on Remembrance”, and a concluding Memory Performance Lab. The event will be held in German.
MORE INFORMATION LINK FROM THE ORIGINAL NEWSLETTER
DATE
21-23. October
LOCATION
Žanis Lipke Memorial Riga | LATVIA
EVENT DESCRIPTIONArtMem International Conference
Art as Witness: Holocaust-Era Visual Art in Education and Remembrance.
How can Holocaust-era visual art become a meaningful source for education and remembrance in the post-survivor era?
The ArtMem International Conference in Riga brings together museum professionals, educators, researchers, historians and experts to explore the use of Holocaust-era visual art as testimony, historical evidence and an educational resource.
The public conference on 22 October will examine what visual art can communicate that other forms of testimony cannot, how difficult visual material can be responsibly contextualised and taught, and how museums and educators can work with questions of historical accuracy, dignity, trauma-sensitive interpretation and student agency.
Registration: https://forms.gle/REKn5jKYY82Wppcq6
MORE INFORMATION LINK FROM THE ORIGINAL NEWSLETTER
DATE
26. October 2026
LOCATION
Burgenland museums | AUSTRIA
EVENT DESCRIPTIONOpen House Day at Burgenland Museums
For the 23rd time, the “Open House Day” at Burgenland museums will take place on October 26, 2026.
All museums and collections participating in this initiative can be visited free of charge from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, unless otherwise noted.
MORE INFORMATION LINK FROM THE ORIGINAL NEWSLETTER
DATE
30. October 2026 | 12:30 – 13:30
LOCATION
Estoril Congress Center, Av. Amaral, Estoril, Cascais, Lisboa, 2765-192 | PORTUGAL
EVENT DESCRIPTIONWITNESS-REM Project Launch
Join the launch of WITNESS-REM, an EU-funded project that strengthens Holocaust remembrance across Europe and addresses rising antisemitism, historical distortion, denial, hate, and disinformation.
Starting in Cascais, the European Capital of Democracy 2026, the project brings together partners from Hungary, Austria, Germany, Ukraine, and Portugal to build a shared European remembrance culture through study visits, urban memory initiatives, digital tools, intergenerational dialogue, and peer-to-peer learning.
The session will introduce the project’s aims, present the partner network, and include a Q&A with participants on site and online.
MORE INFORMATION LINK FROM THE ORIGINAL NEWSLETTER
2.) DON'T MISS THE ONLINE EVENTS
30.October 2026 / REGISTRATIONEVENT DESCRIPTION
Join the launch of WITNESS-REM, an EU-funded project that strengthens Holocaust remembrance across Europe and addresses rising antisemitism, historical distortion, denial, hate, and disinformation.
MORE INFORMATION LINK FROM THE ORIGINAL NEWSLETTER
3.) MEET A PROJECT
(a brief overview of one of the applications)
POJECT NAME
MEM-ART UNI
Performing Art-Based Memory Practice on Jewish Holocaust Refugee Stories with University Students
PROPOSAL
MEM-ART UNI explores how Jewish family histories shaped by persecution, flight and exile under National Socialism are remembered and passed on across generations. As fewer Holocaust survivors are able to share their experiences first-hand, the project turns to the perspectives of their descendants. It examines how these family stories are told and reinterpreted in literature, film and other artistic forms, and what they mean to descendants in their lives today.
The project brings together university students from fields such as literature, German and Jewish studies with descendants of Jewish Holocaust survivors in Vienna, Wrocław and Marseille. In workshops, students prepare for interviews, research the historical contexts of individual family stories and reflect on the possibilities and limits of biographical memory and oral transmission.
The interviews provide a starting point for Art-Based Memory Labs. Working with artists and educators, students develop short films, audio walks and performances, which will be presented publicly in all three cities. In these labs, the students explore how personal stories can be conveyed through art and what new perspectives may emerge in the process.
MEM-ART UNI asks what Holocaust remembrance can look like today and how younger generations can take an active role in it. By placing family stories in historical and transnational contexts, the project traces how experiences of persecution and forced migration continue to have an impact today.
CONSORTIUM
• University of Vienna (COO)
• Aix-Marseille Université
• University of Wrocław
• Centre Franco-Allemand de Provence
• Vienna University Children’s Office
• MUSMIG Collective
• Jewish Welcome Service Vienna
• Arbeitsgemeinschaft Jüdisches Forum (Jewish Forum Association)
• Fondation du Camp des Milles - Mémoire et Éducation
MORE INFORMATION LINK FROM THE ORIGINAL NEWSLETTER
4.) MONTHLY MEMORIAL DAYS
01 October 1943
Rescue of Danish Jews
German police began the planned roundup of Danish Jews. Danish resistance members and ordinary citizens organised a rescue operation, helping approximately 7,200 Jews and 700 non-Jewish relatives escape to neutral Sweden.
14 October 1943
Sobibor Uprising
Jewish prisoners at the Sobibor killing center launched an armed uprising. Around 300 prisoners escaped; approximately 50 ultimately survived the war.
15 October 1941
Deportations and Operation Reinhard
German authorities began the systematic deportation of German, Austrian and Czech Jews to ghettos, camps and killing sites. On the same day, Heinrich Himmler assigned SS General Odilo Globocnik to implement the systematic murder of Jews in the General Government, an operation later known as Operation Reinhard.
16–18 October 1943
Deportation of Jews from Rome
German occupation authorities seized and deported more than 1,000 Jews from Rome and its surroundings. They were transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where the vast majority were murdered.
28–29 October 1941
The “Great Action” in the Kovno Ghetto
German authorities selected more than 9,200 Jews in the Kovno (Kaunas) ghetto for murder, including nearly 4,300 children. On 29 October, German and Lithuanian police units took the victims to the Ninth Fort, where they were shot.
October reminds us that even in the darkest times, people resisted persecution and stood up for others.
Courage, solidarity and the determination to save lives remain an essential part of the memory of the Holocaust.
5.) CALL TO ACTION / HAVE AN EVENT TO SHARE?
Are you organising a Holocaust remembrance event next month?
Send us:
Date • Location (country, city) or Online • Event description • Link to WP or registrationNEXT deadline: 25th of October 2026!SEND YOUR EVENT“Co-Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission CERV-2025-CITIZENS-REM-HOLOCAUSTJEW. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.”
