To mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center hosted renowned scholar Robert Jan van Pelt on January 27 for a full-day, interactive workshop. During the program,"Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State,” van Pelt led close to one hundred midwest educators through a detailed exploration of the decision-making process of the Nazis, the various stages of the development of Auschwitz, and the moral "gray zone" that existed inside this infamous camp.

Robert Jan van Pelt is an architectural historian at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. Acknowledged in 2000 as the leading world expert on Auschwitz, van Pelt participated in historian Deborah Lipstadt’s defense team in the civil suit brought by British Holocaust denier David Irving, who was ultimately defeated. Van Pelt served as historical consultant for the BBC documentary series "Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State" (2005) and authored "The Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp and The Case for Auschwitz."

Van Pelt provided the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center with the architectural blueprints of Crematorium 5 at Auschwitz. A model of the crematorium, the only type of its kind in the world, is exhibited in the Museum’s Karkomi Permanent Exhibition.

The workshop is generously supported by the Sherman Family Philanthropic Fund. To learn about upcoming events at the Museum, visit www.ilholocaustmuseum.org or call 847-967-4889.

Likely the last international institution of its kind built with the active participation of Holocaust survivors, the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center is the largest facility in the Midwest dedicated to preserving the memories of those lost in the Holocaust and to teaching current generations to fight hatred, indifference and genocide in today’s world. The Museum is located at 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie. The Museum is open Monday through Friday: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Thursday evenings: until 8:00 p.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays: 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.