Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies
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| Founded | 2009 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Simon Wiesenthal, Ingo Zechner, Avshalom Hodik, Anton Pelinka, Brigitte Bailer-Galanda und Bertrand Perz |
| Type | Research Institute |
| Focus | Holocaust Studies |
| Location |
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| Method | Research |
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Key people
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Simon Wiesenthal |
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Employees
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7 staff members, 8 fellows |
| Website | http://www.vwi.ac.at/ |
The Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies (VWI) is a research centre dedicated to the research and documentation of and education on all aspects of antisemitism, racism and the Holocaust, including its emergence and aftermath. It was designed by Simon Wiesenthal as well as international and Austrian researchers. The institute is located in Vienna, Austria. It is financed by the City of Vienna and the Austrian .
The Jewish Community Vienna (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien, IKG) and several other renowned institutions initiated the idea to establish an international Shoah research institute in Vienna in 2002. Simon Wiesenthal was still personally involved in designing the concept for the institute before his death in 2005.
In December 2002, the City of Vienna confirmed that it would financially support the project with a sum to match that to be provided by the Republic of Austria. In March 2008, support by the Republic of Austria for the VWI was also finally confirmed in a speech in the council of ministers. There followed the establishment of the office, taking up work in the spring of 2009.
The preliminary phase in 2010 and 2011 is to see the groundwork being laid for a specialized scholarly library and an institute-affiliated archive (based on the Holocaust-relevant documents of the IKG archive) as well as the design and trial of various forms of public events – such as lectures, book presentations, conferences and workshops as well as public media interventions in remembrance of the Shoah. This was followed by the preparation of a scholarly research program as well as a long-term development plan for the institute.
In December 2016, VWI moved to its new premises in the city centre of Vienna on Rabensteig 3.
The supporting body of the VWI is an association that had been formed in the founding phase of the VWI by the Jewish Community Vienna, the Jewish Documentation Center (Dokumentationszentrum des Bundes Jüdischer Verfolgter des Naziregimes), the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstandes DÖW), the Institute of Contemporary History at the University of Vienna (Institut für Zeitgeschichte der Universität Wien), the Institute of Conflict Research (Institut für Konfliktforschung), the Jewish Museum Vienna and the International Research Centre for Cultural Studies (Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften, IFK). Following a dispute on the permission for use of the archive of the Jewish Community Vienna, the Institute of Conflict Research and the IFK left the supporting body in November 2009, their representatives also resigning from their posts in the VWI board of directors.
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