The World Jewish Congress (WJC) on Thursday debuted a powerful new exhibition at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, showcasing original artistic interpretations of Holocaust memory created by students from 13 schools across 10 European countries.
The works reflect how the Holocaust resonates with young people today and how its lessons can shape their understanding of justice, tolerance and human dignity.
Titled #WeRemember Journeys, the exhibition is an educational offshoot of WJC’s global #WeRemember campaign, an initiative launched to ensure that Holocaust remembrance remains a living, global commitment. Supported by the European Commission and developed in partnership with the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, and the International Center for Education About Auschwitz and the Holocaust, the project engages students through a multi-stage learning journey that blends historical education with personal creative reflection.
Participating students, from both Jewish and non-Jewish schools, studied Holocaust history through virtual or in-person visits to memorial sites—including Auschwitz itself—and were then invited to express their insights through original artworks such as paintings, sculptures, digital designs and written narratives. Each artwork is a personal response and interpretation of the legacy of the Holocaust, through the eyes of the next generation.
WJC President Ronald S. Lauder said the initiative is a vital bridge between history and moral conscience.
“The Holocaust is not only a matter of remembrance—it is a call to moral responsibility,” Amb. Lauder said. “By empowering young people to express what they learned through art, we are not only teaching them about the past, we are equipping them to confront the challenges of today. This is how remembrance becomes personal, and how memory becomes action.”
Sara Friedman, CEO of WJC Israel, said at the exhibition’s opening at Auschwitz, “This exhibition reminds us that Holocaust education must go beyond dates and facts. It must reach hearts and shape values. These students have turned memory into meaning. They are becoming the new storytellers, the new witnesses.”