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“In the same way that the recollection of apartheid’s inhumanities is helping to heal and reconcile the South African people, so the memory of the Holocaust will strengthen the foundations upon which we are building a nation dedicated to the ensuring that never again shall our land see such wrongs by one another “
Nelson Mandela
In agreement with both the Johannesburg & Cape Town Holocaust and Genocide Centre, the Durban Holocaust Centre is excited to announce a change in our name. This change comes as a shift toward a name that reflects both the vision of the South African Holocaust and Genocide Foundation and that of the Durban Centre. This is a vision to not only educate about the horrors of the Holocaust, but to also prevent any such atrociti
es through education and community projects. The Durban Holocaust Centre will now be known as, the Durban Holocaust and Genocide Centre(DHGC).
Raphael Lemkin in his 1944 book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe coined the term genocide as a reference to the intentional destruction of a group of people often influenced by attitudes of prejudice and hatred.
We have seen this throughout human history and continue to see it at different scales and scopes to this very day. As the DHGC we are dedicated to teaching about genocides with the intention of educating our visitors about the dangers of discrimination and prejudice.
We take thousands of learners through our centre each year and we want to provide them with a space where they will feel empowered to make better choices and to be cognisant of how their choices affect the lives of those around them. We aim to remind all those who go through our centre that the holocaust, though unprecedented in its nature, began with the same attitudes that allowed the Rwandan, Cambodian and Bosnian genocides to take place and in being aware of these attitudes we are able to play a greater role in preventing such events from ever happening again.
In a country haunted by a bitter past of hatred and segregation, we aim to provide a space where learning and compassion go hand in hand. We hope that in teaching about the Holocaust and other such atrocities we are able to encourage each of our visitors to start building on a foundation of tolerance, equality and respect for human rights.
“To forget the victims means to kill them a second time. So, I couldn’t prevent the first death. I surely must be capable of saving them from a second death.” Elie Wiesel.
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