Today, on United Nations Holocaust Remembrance Day, The Alfred Landecker Foundation announces its first programmatic partnership and senior appointment as part of its continued commitment and dedication to educate current and future generations about the Holocaust.
The newly created Alfred Landecker Programme at Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government will investigate the persecution and protection of minorities in Europe. It will focus on researching the values of individual and communal dignity, liberty and belonging, rights and duties, and the role of public policy and government in protecting and strengthening such values.
The Foundation has also announced the appointment of its first Founding Director and CEO, Dr. Andreas Eberhardt, who will join the organisation on February 1st.
Dr. Eberhardt joins the Foundation from Berlin based Foundation 'Remembrance, Responsibility and Future' (EVZ) where he served as Chief Executive from 2016. Before that he was Founding Director of the German-Israeli Future forum.
David Kamenetzky, Chair, Alfred Landecker Foundation, said "The Foundation is pleased to develop new academic programmes with respected institutions such as the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University. One of the three priority areas for the Foundation is to better understand the need for the collective protection of minorities - not only as one of the lessons learned from the collapse of European civilization in the 1930s and the Holocaust, but also as a need that arises from the spread of Antisemitism, populist ethno-nationalism and majoritarianism in our societies today."
"We are very lucky to welcome Dr. Eberhardt as the Foundation's first CEO. In his previous role, Dr. Eberhardt forged change and progress towards a culture of commemoration of Holocaust victims and its survivors. With this wealth of experience and passion, Andreas will build a team to identify and support trend-setting developments in the promotion of an active remembrance culture, Holocaust education, the strengthening of democracy and minority protection."
Dr. Eberhardt said "I am delighted to be joining the Alfred Landecker Foundation at such an exciting and formative time. It is a privilege to help future generations learn the lessons from history, when intolerance and bigotry reign. I look forward to leading the Foundation as we work to promote a future based on shared values and respect for all."
At the core of the new Oxford programme is a new academic chair, the Alfred Landecker Professorship in Values and Public Policy, and an annual lecture. An integral part of the new programme, the Alfred Landecker Memorial Lecture is set to be an annual event, held each year on 27 January to coincide with the United Nations Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Professor Ngaire Woods, Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, commented on the creation of the programme: "The collapse of egalitarian values, the persecution of minorities and the dismantling of democratic processes which spread throughout Europe during the 1930s are not too dissimilar to some of the threats we see in the world today. Understanding the parallels with the present situation and considering the values and institutions that need to be built and strengthened is of utmost importance, and I am grateful to the Alfred Landecker Foundation for supporting research and teaching on these issues."
The first holder of the Chair is Professor Jonathan Wolff, the Alfred Landecker Professor of Values and Public Policy. During the lecture entitled 'Political ideology in the 1930s: lessons for the 2020s', Professor Wolff will consider the significance of the parallels between the 1930s and the 2020s, the values and ideologies that underlie these trends, and how they can be countered in tolerant democratic societies.
Professor Jonathan Wolff said "I am honoured to be the inaugural Alfred Landecker Professor. All the research we undertake at the Blavatnik School is multi-disciplinary, and the approach for this programme will draw on philosophy, history, politics, sociology, cultural studies, legal theory, and human rights theory. There never has been a more urgent time to understand the persecution of minorities and articulate and reaffirm the values underlying open, liberal, democracy."
https://www.alfredlandecker.org/270120-press-release