MORE than 250 Holocaust survivors have joined an international initiative to share their stories of loss and survival with students around the world during a time of rising anti-semitism.

The Survivor Speakers Bureau was launched today by the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also referred to as the Claims Conference.

“A Holocaust survivor speakers’ bureau of this scale and reach is unprecedented,” said Gideon Taylor, president of the Claims Conference.

“At a moment of dramatically rising anti-semitism, this programme tells the history and educates for the future.”

Six million European Jews, Roma, disabled, LGBT+, and other minorities were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust.

The speakers’ bureau connects Holocaust survivors with students, both virtually and in person.

In the United States and Germany, educational institutions can invite survivors to personally speak in classrooms and university lecture halls. Educators in other countries can request video conferences to ensure first-hand testimony is accessible.

The Claims Conference hopes to soon add more countries where young people can meet survivors in person.

“Holocaust education is crucial, especially given the current events happening around the world,” said Holocaust survivor Eva Szepesi, who lives in Germany.

“My goal in sharing my own story of survival is and has always been to show the human impact, not just of the Holocaust, but of all the racist and hateful actions being taken in the world,” the 91-year-old survivor of the Auschwitz death camp added.

“If hearing my testimony helps one person understand that they, too, have a role in the events happening in their community, and they can stand up for what is right, then I feel it is worth it for me to go remember and share those terrible stories.”

The Claims Conference handles claims on behalf of Jews who suffered under the Nazis and negotiates compensation with Germany’s finance ministry every year.

Since 1952, the German government has paid more than €83 billion (£71bn) to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis.

The group administers several compensation programmes that provide direct payments to survivors globally, provides grants to more than 300 social service agencies worldwide and ensures survivors receive services such as home care, food, medicine, transport and socialisation.