Conference organized at the Museum of Padua Jewish History on JANUARY 21, 2026, at 3:00 PM.

Genocide is one of the most well-known and controversial words in contemporary legal-political vocabulary. Born from the studies and reflections of Polish-Jewish jurist Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959) to designate, with an appropriate neologism, the devastating and radical act of physical and cultural destruction of the Jewish people in Europe carried out by Nazifascism – later referred to as the Holocaust and more recently Shoah – the word genocide was subsequently adopted by the United Nations with the famous resolution 260 (III) A of December 9, 1948. In this document, genocide is defined as a specific series of acts aimed at “destroying, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such.”

In the approach to Holocaust Memorial Day 2026, the Conference of Studies aims to provide a scientific reflection with multiple voices, from an interdisciplinary, historical, and legal perspective, on a word that, since its inception, has attracted both consensus and controversy. A rigorous reconstruction of the genesis and development of the term genocide appears necessary and urgent today, to consciously reflect on the present, in light of a correct understanding of the past.

Event organized in collaboration with: University of Padua – Department of Political, Legal and International Studies, University Center for the History of Resistance and the Contemporary Age, Martin Buber Cultural Center.

RESERVATION REQUIRED

Reservations: museo@padovaebraica.it |+39 3762256076