Class of 2025-2026
The 2025–2026 cohort of NESHAMA brings together students and educators from five countries, six sites of remembrance, two public institutions and thirteen schools across Europe, forming a dynamic network dedicated to Holocaust remembrance as well as Jewish life and culture. Through a structured educational pathway, students strengthen their critical thinking skills and deepen their understanding of the processes that led to the destruction of democratic values and human dignity, culminating in the annihilation of European Jewry. As young Ambassadors of Remembrance, they are empowered to stand up against antisemitism, discrimination, prejudice and all forms of intolerance.
Coordinated by the Mémorial de la Shoah, the programme ensures long-term sustainability, sound management of the EU grant, comprehensive documentation of activities, and a shared communication strategy across the consortium.
The 2025–2026 calendar combines online and in-person learning experiences: online training sessions begin in Greece (September 2025), followed by online testimonies hosted by partners in Germany (October 2025), Croatia (December 2025) and France (April 2026). Students attend a foundational lecture on Holocaust history by Hubert Strouk (May 2025), as well as thematic online lectures including a gender perspective on Auschwitz-Birkenau by Lisa Pine (November 2026), pre-war Jewish life by Joël Kotek (March 2026), and remembrance policies in Europe by Sarah Gensburger (May 2026).
In January 2026, participants gather in Paris for study visits at the Mémorial de la Shoah (Paris and Drancy), the Mémorial des martyrs de la Déportation, the former camp of Drancy and the former railway station of Bobigny, alongside a live testimony by Arlette Testyler and a lecture on Jewish women’s resistance. The programme also includes a dedicated educational event connected to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
The cohort includes students from: Lycée Charlemagne (Paris) and Lycée Joliot-Curie (Nanterre) in France; Saint-Paul High School (Athens) and the 6th Lyceum of Volos in Greece; seven secondary schools in Oświęcim, Kęty and Brzeszcze in Poland; BBS Heinrich Mette (Quedlinburg) in Germany; and XVI. Gimnazija (Zagreb) in Croatia. During the Paris meeting, each delegation presented a project reflecting its site of remembrance and engagement in NESHAMA: a student film for the Mémorial de la Shoah; a “trailer”-style presentation for the Mémorial des martyrs de la Déportation; a historical presentation on the Gedenkstätte Langenstein-Zwieberge; a film and object-based reflection presented with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum; a student-produced film for the Jasenovac Memorial Site; and a creative reconstruction of forged identity papers by students working with the Jewish Museum of Greece. Together, these initiatives embody the spirit of NESHAMA: learning, transmitting, and actively carrying remembrance into the future.
