Genocide and mass atrocity prevention begins where you are. This concept drives the U.S. Programs of the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities (AIPG).
In 2023, the Auschwitz Institute will be launching a Raphael Lemkin Seminar tailored specifically for local U.S. government leaders. Using lessons learned from global seminars, AIPG will organize a U.S. Lemkin Seminar that will assist local governments to define and implement a domestic atrocity prevention agenda at the community level. This program will work through the main levers that deal with existing risks of identity-based violence at the local government level - mainly local human rights protection policies as well as policing and memorialization policies.
The goal of this Seminar will be to build the capacity of U.S. local governments for preventive policy connected to civil and human rights. As a result of the upcoming U.S. seminars, a national network of local government officials will be developed who will use their training to become agents of prevention. As changemakers, they will intentionally work with community members to acknowledge past community traumas in ways that inspire updates to current policies that more effectively prevent identity-based violence locally while building more fair, inclusive, and equitable communities.
In partnership with the Illinois State Museum, AIPG will be working with a team of consultants to develop an exhibition for the Springfield-Sangamon County Transportation Center. This exhibition will include several of the belongings and materials revealed during Section 106 archaeological excavations; these are from houses that were burned to the ground by White mob action in 1908, commonly referred to as the 1908 Race Riot. The events of those two days, in 1908, led to the creation of the NAACP.
The goal of this partnership is to extend AIPG’s expertise in identity-based violence prevention and memorialization through a community-centered approach for this project. Because of the violence of this event, AIPG and fellow consultants are committed to sensitivity regarding both the original trauma as well as its continued legacies. With the exhibition’s completion in 2025, we will support community healing and future prevention.
