Yad Vashem to Open First-Ever International Education Center in Munich, with Satellite in Leipzig

A Historic Decision

The world's largest Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, is establishing its first-ever international educational center in Munich, Germany, with a satellite branch in Leipzig. The decision, announced on Thursday, is a direct response to what the institution describes as a critical rise in global antisemitism and the increasing distortion or denial of the Holocaust. The main center will be built at Karolinenplatz in central Munich, a location of deep symbolic significance as it sits within the former Nazi party district, the birthplace of the NSDAP.

“The choice of Munich, the birthplace of the NSDAP, has a deep symbolic meaning and reflects how important it is to confront this history where it began.”

The Munich Hub

The Munich center is planned to open within three years and will serve as a nationwide platform for audiences across Germany and neighboring countries. The project has a financial guarantee from the Bavarian state government. Key factors in selecting Munich over competing bids from North Rhine-Westphalia—where Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Dortmund had all vied for the project—included the city's strategic location, educational landscape, high security standards, and its historical significance. The site is near the existing NS-Dokumentationszentrum and the Israeli Consulate General.

“We stand by our historical responsibility: the atrocities of National Socialism must never be repeated.”

Leipzig's Satellite Branch

Parallel to the Munich hub, a smaller satellite branch will be established in Leipzig at the Ariowitsch-Haus, the cultural and community center of the Israelite Religious Community of Leipzig. This facility will feature interactive learning spaces and will specifically target educators and young people in the region, also acting as a bridge to Eastern Europe, particularly Poland and the Czech Republic. The move was praised by Saxon leaders as both a great honor and an obligation.

“Education and the new educational sites are necessary and important to decisively and clearly oppose antisemitism, prejudice, disinformation, and any form of relativization of the Holocaust.”

Educational Mission and Vision

The center aims to strengthen the Jewish perspective in German remembrance culture, which Yad Vashem's pedagogical director Yael Richler-Friedman noted has been largely shaped by local stories. The new institution will focus on the voices of the victims rather than the perpetrators, aiming to clarify the scale of the mass murder and encourage visitors to reflect on their own identity and develop empathy. German Education Minister Karin Prien emphasized that many young people in Germany know too little about the Shoah.

“The knowledge of what was is important to prevent the evil in the future.”

A Long-Gestating Project

The idea for a German educational center was first proposed by Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan in 2023 during a meeting with then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The project has since been supported by the current government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz and by politicians at both the federal and state levels. After a feasibility study, the shortlist of potential states was narrowed to Bavaria, Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia in September 2025, culminating in today's final decision.

A Broader Commitment

Despite losing the bid, North Rhine-Westphalia has pledged to continue supporting Yad Vashem's nationwide educational work. The state's head of chancellery, Nathanael Liminski, stated that NRW would contribute its outstanding landscape of educational and memorial sites to the broader fight against antisemitism. The initiative marks a significant expansion of Yad Vashem's mission to preserve the memory of the Holocaust through education, documentation, and research at a time when firsthand survivor testimonies are becoming increasingly rare.