Stephen D. Smith MBE is a

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

and

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

specialist who has designed, operated and consulted for many different Holocaust memorial centres. He currently holds the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Chair on Genocide Education.

Early life

Smith was born on 15 April 1967, the elder son of Eddie Smith, a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister and Marina Smith, a teacher. In 1995, he founded the

Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre The National Holocaust Centre and Museum, previously known as Beth Shalom (lit. "House of Peace", is a Holocaust memorial centre near Laxton in Nottinghamshire in England. Opened in 1995, it is England's only dedicated Holocaust museum, though ...

in Nottinghamshire with his younger brother James Smith, and together they also founded

Aegis Trust The Aegis Trust, founded in 2000, is the British NGO which campaigns to prevent genocide worldwide. Based at the United Kingdom's Holocaust Centre, which opened in 1995, the Aegis Trust coordinates the UK Genocide Prevention All-Party Parliamentary ...

in 2000. Upon graduating from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

in 1991 with a degree in

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, Smith attended the Oxford Centre for Hebrew Studies in 1992, and received his

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

in 2000, having focused his postgraduate study on the "Trajectory of Memory", examining how Holocaust survivor testimony developed over time. His autobiography, ''Never Again Yet Again, A Personal Struggle with the Holocaust and Genocide'', was published in 2009.

Holocaust education

Smith has consulted on the development of a number of Holocaust memorial and education centres overseas, including Lithuania's House of Memory and the

Cape Town Holocaust Centre The Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre began as Africa's first Holocaust centre founded in 1999. It has sister Centres in Johannesburg (Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre) and Durban (Durban Holocaust Centre), and together they form p ...

in South Africa, which was heavily inspired by a visit from the founder, Myra Osrin, to the UK Holocaust Centre. In 2004, Smith was project Director of the Kigali Memorial Centre, the genocide memorial museum and education centre in

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali is a relativ ...

, Rwanda. Aegis was commissioned by Kigali City Council to establish the Kigali Memorial Centre, which opened in 2004 and still operates today. Smith is a member of the United States delegation to the Inter-governmental Taskforce on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF), founded by Sweden, the US and the UK on the personal initiative of the then Swedish Prime Minister,

Göran Persson Hans Göran Persson (; born 20 January 1949) is a Swedish politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006 and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1996 to 2007. Persson was first elected to the Swedish Parliame ...

. He was a member of the British delegation from 1998, when the ITF was founded, moving to the American delegation in 2009 following appointment to the

USC Shoah Foundation Institute The USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education, formerly Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making audio-visual interviews with survivors and witnesses of the ...

(see below). Over 20 countries are now part of the ITF. Smith was an advisor to Göran Persson's series of intergovernmental conferences, the

Stockholm International Forum Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. The four conferences addressed, The Holocaust (2000); Combatting Intolerance (2001), Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation (2002), Preventing Genocide (2004). One early outcome of the work of the ITF was the development of the UK's national Holocaust Memorial Day, inaugurated in 2001. Smith played a central role in this and served as an advisor to the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

on the Day's development over the years, and was appointed the inaugural Chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust in November 2004 when the decision was made that the running of the Day should be handed over to a non-Governmental charitable body. Smith has developed a reputation for his contribution to the field in the UK and abroad. Recognition for his work includes being made an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(2000), the Interfaith Gold Medallion (2000), and Honorary Doctorate in Law from the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

(2007) and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from

Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university located in Nottingham, England. Its origins date back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham School of Design, Nottingham Government School of Design, which still opera ...

(2010). Smith's publications include ''Making Memory: Creating Britain's First Holocaust Centre'', ''Forgotten Places: The Holocaust and the Remnants of Destruction'', and ''The Holocaust and the Christian World'', which he co-edited with Carol Rittner and Irena Steinfeldt. Smith also co-produced "Death March: A Survivor's Story", which was broadcast on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

and

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

. He is currently working on a memoir of his interviews with Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter. On 15 August 2009, Smith took up the post of executive director of the

, the archive of Holocaust survivor testimonies initiated by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

in 1994. He left that position in 2021.

Honorary degree

On 21 July 2010, almost twenty years after the Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre was founded, Smith, his brother James and their mother Marina were each awarded honorary degrees of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) by

Personal life

Smith converted to Judaism in 2023.

References

External links

www.usc.edu/vhi

www.theholocaustcentre.net

www.aegistrust.org

www.kigalimemorialcentre.org

www.hmd.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Stephen D. 1967 births Living people 21st-century British Jews Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the University of London Genocide education Members of the Order of the British Empire People associated with Nottingham Trent University People associated with the University of Leicester People from Nottinghamshire