Dr. Susanna Kokkonen travels around the world speaking to Christian, Jewish and civic audiences about the Holocaust, Genocide, anti-Semitism and Israel today. She has lectured in the parliaments of Canada, Finland and Sweden as well as at the European Parliament.  In addition to teaching, she is currently helping an orphanage in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya.

Originally from Finland, Dr. Kokkonen worked as an Israel Lobbying Director at the European Parliament in Brussels and as the Cultural Attache at the Embassy of Finland in Tel Aviv. In 2004, she received her Ph.D. in Holocaust Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where her dissertation topic was ‘Jewish Refugees in Post-War Italy, 1945-1951’. Fluent in six languages, she is skilled in presenting difficult content in a way that touches hearts, inspiring positive action and reconciliation between people and the past.

Until recently, Dr. Kokkonen was the Director of the Christian Friends of Yad Vashem, World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, Israel. In that capacity, she escorted Christian dignitaries, addressed Christian groups, launched and organized over 10 Christian Leadership Seminars hosting participants from over 50 countries.  Dr. Kokkonen also successfully launched the Christian Friends of Yad Vashem’s Prayer and Study Tour, reliving history in Israel from the times of the Bible until today.

Her book entitled ‘Journey to the Holocaust: Anti-Semitism, the Bible and History’ was published in Finland in April 2014 and reprinted in 2017. The book came out in Swedish in 2018 and was released in English in April 2020.

Dr. Kokkonen frequently contributes to TV and radio programs as well as publications around the world. Her blog is available in English on the Times of Israel web site.




View and buy Dr. Kokkonen’s new book