Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research convenes in Belgium

Institute senior staff among delegates from 28 member states

USC Shoah Foundation Institute Executive Director Stephen D. Smith, Managing Director Kim Simon, and Director of Programs Kori Street were in Belgium this week for the year's first plenary gathering of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF).

The ITF convened the gathering from June 25 through 28 in the town of Mechelen, where the Dossin Barracks served as a transit camp for the deportation of more than 25,000 Jews and Roma during World War II. The ITF program included an academic conference, "National police forces in Europe and the Holocaust 1939-1945," dozens of working groups, presentations, and visits to memorial sites.

The ITF is made up of 28 member states, each of which is represented by delegates drawn from a pool of experts and leaders in the field of Holocaust studies in their respective countries. Each year, a different member state chairs the semi-annual conferences in two different cities.