BERLIN — The World Jewish Congress (WJC), in partnership with the Alfred Landecker Foundation, has concluded the first of four educational trips bringing staff members of the German Bundestag and senior employees of federal ministries to sites associated with Operation Reinhardt, the deadliest phase of the Holocaust. The inaugural cohort traveled across what is now eastern Poland to key locations central to the systematic extermination of Jews carried out by the Nazi regime between 1942 and 1943.
This pilot initiative, “Beyond Auschwitz: Understanding Operation Reinhardt” aims to broaden knowledge of the Holocaust beyond the widely known history of Auschwitz-Birkenau. As pillars of Germany’s highest democratic institutions, senior civil servants and parliamentary staff carry a particular responsibility to ensure that their decisions, analysis, and public communication rest on historical truth rather than distortion or simplification. This is increasingly critical at a time of rising antisemtism and contested memory.
Over the course of four days, participants visited Lublin, the administrative headquarters of Operation Reinhardt, the former ghettos of Izbica and Włodawa, the extermination camps of Bełżec and Sobibór, and the concentration and extermination complex of Majdanek. Historical briefings, on-site discussions, and reflection sessions deepened understanding of how bureaucracy, logistics, and societal indifference enabled genocide, as well as the critical roles played by administrative, judicial, economic, and police leadership. Visiting these sites reveals these mechanisms with a clarity that no classroom can offer.
World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder said, “Operation Reinhardt remains one of the most devastating and least understood chapters of the Holocaust. Millions were murdered in places that are not widely known, in camps built for the sole purpose of immediate extermination. By bringing senior German parliamentary and government staff to these sites, we are restoring historical truth, confronting distortion, and ensuring that the people who help shape democratic societies today understand exactly how quickly hatred becomes policy and how indifference becomes complicity. This history must never be forgotten.”
By combining the World Jewish Congress’s global expertise in Holocaust education and diplomacy with the Alfred Landecker Foundation’s focus on the evolution of Holocaust memory and democratic resilience, the program brings together complementary strengths essential for this moment. Understanding how state structures were mobilized for exclusion and violence helps strengthen democratic institutions against contemporary antisemitism and conspiracy-driven narratives.
Lena Altman, Co-CEO of the Alfred Landecker Foundation added, “When participants walk these sites, they encounter layers of history that no document alone can convey. Operation Reinhardt was a centrally organized program that used a tightly coordinated network of ghettos, transports, and extermination camps to murder nearly two million Jews. Understanding this systematic machinery—and the role played by administrative structures—helps deepen a culture of remembrance, accountability, and responsibility within today’s democratic institutions.”
Established in 2019 by the Reimann Family, the Foundation honors the legacy of Alfred Landecker, a business representative from Mannheim, who was deported in 1942 to the transit ghetto of Izbica—one of the central hubs feeding the Operation Reinhardt killing centers—before being murdered in this system of extermination.
The educational circuit was facilitated by What Matters, whose German-speaking historians bring extensive expertise in Holocaust education initiatives. Their team, along with WJC and Alfred Landecker Foundation representatives, led participants through each site, providing historical grounding, context, and space for reflection.
Three additional trips will take place over the coming year, creating a sustained foundation of historical knowledge among senior German parliamentary and government staff. Following each visit, participants will reconvene for workshops focused on contemporary antisemitism, democratic vulnerabilities, and Holocaust distortion, including consultations with Jewish community leaders.
As part of the broader initiative, in January the WJC will also launch an interactive digital platform mapping the histories and locations of the ghettos, camps, forests, and administrative centers associated with Operation Reinhardt, extending the program’s reach to a wider public audience.
About the Alfred Landecker Foundation:
The Alfred Landecker Foundation is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust, protecting minorities and strengthening democratic resilience. Inspired by the legacy of Alfred Landecker, the Foundation supports research, education, and innovative projects that confront the past, counter antisemitism, and make historical truth accessible for future generations.
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