The Holocaust Documentation Center in Moravia is preparing an architectural competition

Brno – The international conference, preparation of an architectural competition, fundraising, and work on research teams currently form the main activities of the people around the foundation that is preparing the establishment of the Holocaust Documentation Center in Moravia. At the opening of the international conference, where American historian Timothy Snyder will speak on Monday, the director of the foundation, Martin Reiner, said this to journalists today.

"The project of the center does not begin with this conference; it is merely one piece of a larger whole. At the moment, we are seeking funding for the architectural competition, whose results we hope to announce around the transition from next spring to summer. We will need to raise around 15 million crowns," Reiner stated. Five architectural studies of the possible future form of the center will also be presented at the conference, four of which are expected to apply for the competition.

The Holocaust Documentation Center in Moravia has been promised land from the city of Brno on Benešova Street, in close proximity to the city center. It received this after representatives of the foundation signed a memorandum of cooperation with the city leadership. In the fall, they hope to sign a similar memorandum with the regional leadership.

"Preparations have been delayed not only because of the COVID pandemic but also due to the death of Petr Kellner, with whose foundation we had arranged support. While in the first year of preparations I was constantly traveling and negotiating with someone, in the second year impacted by COVID, I could not go anywhere. This is where the conference should help, as I hope to negotiate further cooperation with other experts," Reiner noted.

Representatives of the foundation are also working on preparing an exhibition about the aryanization of Jewish property during the Second World War and are discussing the creation of research teams that will begin to gather material for the future documentation center, which is also supposed to include a permanent museum exhibition about the lives of Jews in Moravia.

The idea for the establishment of the center comes from writer and publisher Reiner. The center is intended to provide support for researchers who study the history of Jews and the Holocaust in Moravia, and it will have exhibition spaces with multimedia displays, a hall for temporary exhibitions, lectures, and screenings.