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 Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, I would like to express my appreciation for the European Union’s placement of 27 January, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, on its official calendar.
Remembrance is at the core of IHRA’s mandate, and the Stockholm Declaration commits all member countries “commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and to honour those who stood against it.”
All 31 IHRA member countries, including the 23 that are also EU member states, reflect this commitment by holding annual national commemorations on 27 January.
The IHRA’s focus on Holocaust Memorial Days encompasses several activities. The IHRA’s Grant Strategy includes a program encouraging applicants to develop strategies for Holocaust Memorial Days in a way that injects substance, real meaning, and educational value into these events. The IHRA has also devoted a part of its new multi-year work plan to this topic.
The IHRA will continue its efforts to promote meaningful and content-rich Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations around the world and stands ready to cooperate with the EU and other international institutions in this regard.
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.
