We regularly comment on current events that overlap with the IHRA's mandate. Statements can come from the IHRA Chair, IHRA Secretary General, or, when consensus is reached among all Member Countries, by the IHRA in the form of an IHRA Statement.
As the Chair of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF) and on behalf of its members, I am deeply shocked by the attack today at the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in Toulouse, France in which four people were killed, including three children.
We strongly condemn this criminal act and would like to express our sincere sympathies to the Jewish community of Toulouse and to the families of those killed as they mourn the loss of these victims.
IHRA Chair
The ITF (now IHRA) Chair has become aware that United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) representatives have come under criticism for teaching the Holocaust in UNRWA schools.
The 28 member countries of the ITF are committed to the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust and to encouraging Holocaust education in all schools, universities, institutions, and communities. The General Assembly of the United Nations also adopted a resolution in 2005 affirming the importance of Holocaust remembrance and rejecting any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event. Echoing its 2009 statement on this issue, the ITF fully supports the important work of UNRWA and highly commends their efforts in the field of Holocaust education in Gaza.
As the Chair of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF, now IHRA), I join the Lithuanian Prime Minister in strongly condemning the vandalism of the memorial to the victims of Nazism at the Ninth Fort in Kaunas, Lithuania on 11 April.
This act is especially shameful due to the fact that Lithuania’s Parliament (Seimas) declared 2011 as the Year of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust in Lithuania. Such horrible acts of vandalism try to diminish both the memory of the victims and the meaning of the Holocaust for future generations, something that the ITF’s 28 member countries are committed to upholding.
Emanuelis Zingeris, Chairman of the Lithuanian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, has also issued a statement.
As the Chair of an organization dedicated to the remembrance of the Holocaust and the victims of genocide during the Second World War, I am deeply troubled to see the Roma subjected to racial prejudice, hate crimes, expulsions, and even in some cases murder.
I condemn these practices and call on all governments to protect the rights of this vulnerable minority, whose communities still suffer from their persecution and genocide under Nazi rule.
In December 2009, ITF (now IHRA) Member Countries unanimously pledged to “prevent discrimination against the Roma and protect the Roma communities”, and with that I urge us all to continue such efforts and to defend the civil and human rights of the Roma in the countries in which they live.
It has come to my attention that a foundation linked to the Iranian regime has recently launched a website in English, Arabic and Farsi, dedicated to disseminating Holocaust denial propaganda and antisemitic imagery to an international audience.
The website promotes the idea that the Holocaust is a myth fabricated to advance the interests of the Jews and the State of Israel. Through crude cartoons and pseudo-historical statements it depicts Jews as murderers and money-worshipers.
The Iranian government has a history of vocal Holocaust denial and antisemitism. The ITF (now IHRA) issued a statement against the caricature contest held by the Iranian government in 2006 intending to ridicule the Holocaust. In 2009, the ITF Chair from Norway condemned the antisemitic hate speech propagated by the Iranian President.
Now, as the ITF Chair for 2010, I am also compelled to condemn, in the strongest terms, this latest incitement to Holocaust denial intended to spread vile antisemitic propaganda over the Internet.
As the Chair of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (formerly ITF, now IHRA), I was shocked and outraged to hear of two recent arson attacks against the historic Etz Hayyim synagogue in Hania, Crete.
The synagogue was first attacked on 6 January and then again on 16 January. Numerous books and archives were destroyed and substantial damage was incurred to the building. Particularly disturbing was the evidence, retrieved after the first attack, of antisemitic references to the Holocaust.
In addition to being the only functioning synagogue on the Greek island of Crete, Etz Hayyim also serves a crucial role as a memorial and museum, preserving the knowledge and history of Crete’s Jewish community all but decimated in the Holocaust. As Chair of the ITF, I condemn these attacks and encourage the Greek authorities to do everything possible to protect Greek synagogues and prevent such instances of antisemitic violence.
As the Chair of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (formerly ITF, now IHRA), I am outraged that the infamous sign “Arbeit Macht Frei” over one of Auschwitz’ main gates has been stolen. Having visited Auschwitz recently I can testify to the power of that sign. It bears witness to the unprecedented mass murder of over a million innocent civilians in Auschwitz-Birkenau during the Second World War. This horrible and shameful act of vandalism must be strongly condemned.
The following statement was endorsed by the 27 member States of the ITF at the Plenary session in Trondheim, Norway, on 3 December 2009.
The Roma were subject to persecution and genocide under Nazi-rule. The Roma in Europe still suffer from the repercussion of the destruction of their communities. It is very disturbing that in several European countries the situation of Roma has deteriorated seriously during 2009. Hate crimes have led to deaths and Roma are confronted with discrimination on an alarming scale. There is an urgent need for governments and civil society to respond to the prejudices, discrimination and violence that Roma experience and that threaten democratic society, and to support initiatives that work toward combating these developments.1 The ITF seeks to cooperate with other international organisations (OSCE/ODHIR, Council of Europe, FRA among others) that are responding to this situation.
Building on the past activities of the EWG, the ITF calls on all its member states to address the situation in the field of education.2 The Stockholm Declaration on the Holocaust acknowledges all the victims of the Nazis and the indelible scar that their suffering has left across Europe. It is essential that educational institutions take on the responsibility to include teaching about the Roma genocide within the framework of Holocaust education. In most countries the majority of the teachers are not equipped and materials are not available to teach this history. Focussing on the Roma genocide would give historical insight into the danger of not responding to hate and discrimination. Teachers are often not able to respond adequately to anti-Roma sentiments that they meet within their schools.3
We call for all ITF countries to take the initiative to bring together leading institutions in the educational field, experts in combating prejudices and Roma educators, in order to develop educational tools to address the topics mentioned above and to work toward implementation at all levels of education. There is a specific urgency for such meetings in countries with large Roma communities.
The ITF looks to support projects, within its programs, which focus on the inclusion of the history of the Roma genocide within the context of the Holocaust, as well as educational strategies that combine learning about the past with combating anti-Roma sentiments in society today. Wherever possible the ITF will help further the international exchange of best practices in this field. Each member of the ITF pledges to report on the way in which their government is addressing the situation in the educational field.
1. EU-MIDI European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey, 22-04-09 (www.fra.europa.eu/eu-midis). See also:Â http://www.osce.org/odihr/51018Â Statement by Andrzej Mirga, the head of the OSCE Contact Point for Roma, 9 June 2009, on the recent wave of violence against Roma and Sinti. The Statement makes clear that governments cannot afford to neglect the integration of Europe’s largest minority population.
2. The ITF has held two seminars for experts, the first in 2007 (in Brno, Czech Republic, in cooperation with the Museum of Romani Culture) and the second in 2008 (in Linz, Austria, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education of Austria) as well as cooperated with the Council of Europe and the Hungary Ministry of Education in the teacher training seminar held in Budapest in 2008.
3. The cooperation with the Council of Europe and OSCE/ODIHR has been specifically crucial on this issue. The CoE has sent a questionnaire to 49 member states on the history of the Roma and the Roma genocide in the national curriculum. The CoE and OSCE jointly have developed a website on the history of the Roma and the Roma Genocide.
