Northwest Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Ethnocide Education
Our Changing Name and Mission
The NWCHE
The Northwest Center for Holocaust,
Genocide and Ethnocide Education initially begun in 1998 to
provide local educators and community members with resources in
teaching the Holocaust in schools. The Center's mission was
carefully aligned with Washington State's House Bill 2212, which
states:
"Every public high school is
encouraged to include in its
curriculum, instruction on the events of the period in modern
world history known as the Holocaust, during which six million
Jews and millions of non-Jews were exterminated. The instruction
may also include other examples from both ancient and modern
history where subcultures or large human populations have been
eradicated by the acts of mankind. The studying of this material
is a reaffirmation of the commitment of free peoples never again
to permit such occurrences....
Aware of the far-reaching impact the
Holocaust had on history and the global community, the NWCHE was
dedicated to providing resources that both promote the memory of
those who perished and reaffirm the commitment to “never again
permit such occurrences.” In its work to promote human rights,
the Center had a unique opportunity to broaden its focus. In
2006, Graduate Assistants James Lehman and Joe Wooding were
increasingly concerned with the genocide in Sudan. Additionally,
Wooding and Lehman were inspired by Dr. Raphael Lemkin's
campaign to have genocide and ethnocide recognized as crimes
under international law. These efforts led to the adoption of
the UN Convention on Genocide in 1948, which defines genocide as
an act committed with the intent of harming an individual, or
individuals, based on their racial, ethnic, national, or
religious beliefs. This definition included: killing members of
the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of
the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of
life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole
or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent reproduction;
and forcibly transferring children of the group to another
group. To reflect this, the mission of the NWCHE was revised to
“assist educators in the design and implementation of Holocaust,
genocide and ethnocide-related studies and is dedicated to
remembering and learning from the past in order to promote the
human rights of all people.” Thus, the NWCHE became the
Northwest Center for Holocaust Education to the Northwest Center
for Holocaust, Genocide and Ethnocide Education (NWCHGEE).
With this transition, we will
continue the work of Holocaust, genocide and ethnocide
remembrance, however, we will also be expanding.
As the Northwest SHÆRE Center, our mission is to continue
promoting healing through sharing, as exemplified by Mrs. Ban.
It is our intent to invite survivors of violence, suffering, and
oppression to actively participate in the mission of our Center.
Our mission focuses on the promotion of human rights; therefore,
we are working to bring awareness to the numerous ways people
are challenged, as well as the vastly inspirational ways people
have survived adversity. The SHÆRE Center will also focus on
education by emphasizing the habits that can sustain resiliency
education. Our hope is that we can offer curricular supplements
that further create and sustain healthy community, survivorship,
and healing both inside and outside of the classroom.
Please click here to read the entire name and mission statement
Fostering Community Relationships and a Culture of Learning that
Advance Knowledge, Embrace Diversity, and Promote Social Justice
Our Partner
Center for Education, Equity and Diversity
Additional Holocaust Resource Centers
Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center
Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
