80 years since the liberation: Austria's largest professional development course for teachers on Holocaust education focuses on Mauthausen and Gusen as ‘places of liberation – places of remembrance – places of learning’
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the liberation from National Socialism and the re-establishment of a democratic Austria. Austria's education agency OeAD and its programme ERINNERN:AT (REMEMBER:AT) took this as the starting point for this year's annual focus: "80 years since the end of the war. Liberation. A new beginning?‘ The highlight of the activities will be the OeAD and its ERINNERN:AT programme’s ’Central Seminar’, which will take place at the Mauthausen Memorial from 13 to 15 November 2025. This is the largest annual professional development course for teachers on the subject of National Socialism and the Holocaust commissioned by the Ministry of Education.
The OeAD and the Mauthausen Memorial have been working closely together for decades. In the commemorative year 2025 the institutional networking will be particularly visible. In September the 16th Dialogue Forum, the Mauthausen Memorial’s scientific conference, took place in cooperation with the OeAD, followed now by OeAD ERINNERN:AT’s Central Seminar, which is organised jointly.
Entitled ‘Places of Liberation – Places of Remembrance – Places of Learning’, the professional development course focuses on the stories of the former concentration camps in Mauthausen and Gusen, especially after 1945. The focus is on the people who were involved in these stories, primarily the liberated concentration camp prisoners. Teachers from all over Austria will come together to discuss scientific aspects and the teaching of the subject.
The education minister Christoph Wiederkehr emphasises: “We have committed ourselves in our government programme to strengthening the culture of remembrance. However, we will not only fulfil our obligations but go far beyond them to actively provide new impetus, support innovative projects and anchor the culture of remembrance in our society in a sustainable way. Teachers play a central part in this because they contribute significantly to keeping historical events and their significance alive in the consciousness of the younger generation. Through their commitment and educational work they are not only imparters of knowledge but also ambassadors of values who help to ensure that the culture of remembrance in our country is not forgotten but becomes an active part of our common future.”
The OeAD’s managing director Jakob Calice emphasises: ‘Remembering the end of the war and the liberation in 1945 is not just a look back but also a mission for the future. Places like the Mauthausen Memorial are not just silent memorials but living learning spaces. The seminar encourages teachers to integrate visits to memorial sites into their lessons. They can take advantage of the mobility grant awarded by the OeAD on behalf of the Ministry of Education for trips to memorial sites as well as teaching and learning materials for preparation and follow-up provided by ERINNERN:AT and the memorial site.
‘We are happy to welcome so many committed teachers to the memorial site towards the end of the commemorative year marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation,’ says Barbara Glück, director of the Mauthausen Memorial. ‘Thanks to their efforts tens of thousands of pupils find their way to historical sites all over Austria every year. These first encounters are crucial in determining whether young people will continue to engage with their history later on and carry the memory into the future. We are looking forward to the exchange and will always be available as contact persons, also after this event.’
Focus on the history of memorial sites and digital educational offerings
Between 1938 and 1945 around 200,000 people from more than 40 different nations were interned in the Mauthausen concentration camp and its satellite camps. They were persecuted by the Nazis for being Jews, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals, ‘asocials,’ criminals or because of their political or religious beliefs and deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp. At least 90,000 prisoners did not survive their imprisonment in the concentration camp.
The OeAD's ‘Central Seminar’ offers teachers the possibility to learn about the historical background and the current state of research as well as practical educational work. In workshops teachers will learn about specific learning opportunities created by the OeAD and other partners. This year there is a special focus on digital educational offers. The seminar will also explore how social media channels can be used for history education and how Holocaust trivialisation and relativisation on social media platforms can be effectively counteracted. Excursions will take participants to the memorial sites and the surrounding areas: How did the families of perpetrators perceive the liberation? What remains of the former concentration camps? What has disappeared? And how is the concentration camp Gusen redesigned as a memorial site in the 21st century?
Austria's largest professional development programme for teachers on National Socialism and the Holocaust
Under the title ‘Central Seminar’ the OeAD and its ERINNERN:AT programme hold the largest professional development event for teachers on National Socialism and the Holocaust every year on behalf of the Ministry of Education. This year's seminar will be held in cooperation with the Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial and the University College of Teacher Education Upper Austria. The annual event is aimed at teachers of all school types and subjects, especially history and political education, from all over Austria. The Central Seminar 2025 is supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism, the Future Fund of the Republic of Austria, the Province of Upper Austria and the German Embassy in Vienna.
Schools can apply for funding for visits to memorial sites
As a further contribution to strengthening historical and political education the OeAD supports school visits to the concentration camp memorial sites in Mauthausen, Gusen, Ebensee and Melk, also on behalf of the Ministry of Education. As of the school year 2025/26 11th grade pupils will also be able to apply for a mobility grant besides 8th grade pupils to enable them to examine the history and consequences of National Socialism in depth and to learn about democratic values in a sustainable manner.
Further information:
- Seminar programme: https://www.erinnern.at/zentrales-seminar-2025
- To the OeAD programme ERINNERN:AT’s central seminar: https://www.erinnern.at/bildungsangebote/seminare/zentrales-seminar
- Overview page of ERINNERN:AT’s annual focus "80 years since the end of the war. Liberation. A new beginning?" with historical background information, learning opportunities and all events: https://www.erinnern.at/themen/jahresthema-2025-80-jahre-kriegsende-befreiung-neuanfang
- Support for visits to memorial sites for school classes: https://oead.at/de/schule/gedenkstaettenbesuch-mauthausen
- Materials for preparing and following up on visits to memorial sites:
https://www.erinnern.at/gedaechtnisorte-gedenkstaetten/paedagogische-auseinandersetzung-mit-dem-kz-mauthausen
