Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies (VWI)
Type of activity
Location
The Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies (VWI) is active in three central fields. Its documentation activity centres on its collections, the Holocaust-related parts of the IKG archive, which are on loan to the institute, and the estate of Simon Wiesenthal with its extensive holdings on Nazi perpetrators, as well as the VWI library. On the basis of these collections, which are either owned by or accessible at the institute, the VWI conducts its research activities in the form of projects and the initiation of publications.
The fellowship programme is central to research at the VWI. It builds on the recommendations, suggestions, and initiatives made by the International Academic Board both in content and concept and in the selection of the fellows. The programme is flexible and open to the free research scene, and engages in intensive and on-going exchange with researchers in other institutions, thus ensuring constant scholarly innovation and consideration of new questions and innovative methods.
Education is the VWI’s third pillar. This aspect reflects the institute’s dedication to the central idea of the European enlightenment: the education of responsible adults based on the transfer of knowledge. Scholarly lectures and events are designed to encourage the broad public into confronting antisemitism, racism, the Holocaust, and genocide via the presentation of important research results on these subjects. However, it is also important to develop, expand, and test new, even experimental concepts: The VWI also stages exhibitions and artistic installations, initiates interventions in the public sphere, and is developing new internet projects and putting new teaching methods and teaching aids up for discussion in the context of scholarly discussions.
