International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide

The conference followed the establishment in Jerusalem of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide by Israel W. Charny, Shamai Davidson, and Elie Wiesel in 1979. Leo Kuper is also mentioned in the scholarly account of the conference’s intellectual setting.[3]

The event formed part of a wider 1980s shift in sociology toward studying genocide as a state crime and examining state responsibility. The scholarly account frames post-Holocaust sociology as a moral response to nationalistic massacres and atrocities, placing the conference within that developing field rather than supplying details of its individual papers.[3]

The conference took place in 1982, with accounts identifying Tel Aviv as its location; the Jerusalem Post says it had been scheduled across Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.[4][1] It is described as the first multidisciplinary international-level conference to address the Holocaust and genocide across the centuries, and as a large-scale gathering devoted to genocide studies.[3][5]

Reports describe a substantial planned program, but differ on its size: the Jerusalem Post reported 150 sessions, while an International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance publication, citing the Encyclopedia of Genocide, gives 300 papers. The latter account says six papers concerned the Armenian genocide; the Jerusalem Post reported six planned sessions on that subject.[1][5]

The Armenian genocide’s place on the program prompted reported objections from Turkey. The Jerusalem Post says Turkish officials demanded cancellation of the Armenian sessions and exclusion of Armenian speakers, and reportedly threatened to end protection for Jews escaping Iran and Syria through Turkey if Israel did not comply.[1] The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance account likewise describes Turkish protests aimed at preventing recognition of the Armenian genocide, while Kenneth S. Stern’s account says the Turkish government warned against including the subject and raised the well-being of Turkish Jews as a concern.[5][4]

Accounts also describe pressure within Israel. Stern writes that the Israeli government tried to stop the conference and encouraged scholars not to attend.[4] A National Library of Israel catalog record relays the publisher’s summary of Charny’s later book, which says Turkey demanded that Armenian-genocide lectures be canceled and Armenian lecturers barred, and that the Israeli government followed suit; the summary presents Charny as campaigning against his government.[6] In a 1983 House statement, Representative Charles Pashayan alleged that Turkey had tried to exclude the Armenian genocide from Holocaust Council programs and prevent Armenian participation at the conference.[7]

The reported pressure was followed by withdrawals. The Jerusalem Post says Wiesel resigned as conference president; Yad Vashem withdrew its offer to host the opening ceremonies; Tel Aviv University withdrew as co-sponsor; and the Szold National Institute and Hunter College stopped participating. It also reports that Yehuda Bauer and Alan Dershowitz canceled, donations and Jewish press coverage declined, and registrations fell from 600 to 300. Charny nevertheless decided to proceed.[1] The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance account names Wiesel, Dershowitz, and Arthur Hertzberg among those who withdrew, but says the Armenian-genocide papers and presenters were not excluded.[5]

The conference went ahead, and Stern’s account says the Armenian genocide was discussed.[4] The National Library of Israel catalog summary likewise says the conference took place despite censorship efforts, while the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance account states that neither the Armenian-related papers nor their presenters were barred.[6][5] By contrast, a 2026 Maariv opinion article says Turkish pressure led the organizers to refrain from discussing the Armenian genocide.[2] The available accounts therefore do not provide a definitive, unified description of the delivered program.

The conference is remembered in accounts of the development of genocide studies and of the international discussion of the Armenian genocide. The Jerusalem Post characterizes it as an important event in that field and says it marked the Armenian genocide’s first recognition in an international setting. A Times of Israel review describes it as the first international conference to connect the Holocaust with other genocides and include Armenian scholars.[1][8]

A scholarly study presents the forum as successful despite attempts by some national governments to hinder its outcome, and situates it within the emerging study of state responsibility for genocide.[3] The event’s significance thus lies both in its multidisciplinary scope and in the continuing dispute over whether political pressure altered its agenda and participation.

The record of the conference comes from sources with different purposes and degrees of proximity to events. A June 14, 1982 American Jewish Committee memorandum refers to a “genocide meeting in Israel” and the Armenian question, but supplies no formal conference name, venue, participants, or outcome. It reports that the AJC’s former correspondent in Turkey, Emil Franko, had not yet heard about the matter and was doubtful that it would cause serious repercussions for Turkey’s Jewish community.[9]

That memorandum also relays Franko’s assessment that Turkish officials disagreed over how to address the Armenian issue: some reportedly favored admitting responsibility for massacre and persecution, while opponents of admitting wrongdoing, including people in the Ministry of Interior, were stronger at the time. It is an account of Franko’s reported view, not a direct statement by Turkish officials.[9]

Later sources offer more detailed but not identical narratives. A 2021 Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs article describes Turkish officials attempting to force cancellation and says threats to Jews in Turkey amplified their demands.[10] A National Library of Israel catalog entry summarizes the publisher’s account of Charny’s book, while the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance publication recounts Turkish protests and withdrawals.[6][5] The 2026 Maariv opinion article offers a conflicting account of the outcome, stating that the Armenian genocide was not discussed because of Turkish pressure.[2] These differing descriptions of the venue, program size, threats, and treatment of Armenian material counsel care in presenting specifics, although the accounts agree that the conference took place and that the Armenian genocide was central to the dispute.