Our Mission

The Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies strives to build a cadre of professionals and lay leaders who are committed to Holocaust Education and Remembrance, and ready to meet the challenges that the field is facing. As survivors pass away and awareness of the subject in public memory fades, it is the responsibility of the next generations to explore, research and teach the history of the Holocaust, confront Holocaust deniers and distorters, and combat antisemitism both in the U.S. and globally.  

Through courses, lectures, conferences, research, and more, the Fish Center is dedicated to the study of the Holocaust from an interdisciplinary perspective steeped in the history, culture, and spiritual life of European Jewish civilization, annihilated by the Nazis and their collaborators between 1939 and 1945.

Additionally, the Center focuses on the study of modern genocides, both preceding and succeeding the Holocaust. It leverages the renowned YU faculty, alongside scholars and researchers from across the globe, in coursework and programs covering a variety of disciplines and fields: history, law, social work, education, theology, psychology and more. Through its planned lectures, workshops, seminars and communal resources and activities, the Fish Center aims to ensure that the Shoah and other genocides will continue to be remembered and further studied.