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.
Today, we commemorate the victims and survivors of the hatred that was the driving force of a totalitarian, criminal regime and its collaborators.
Absolute responsibility and duty of all of us, who choose to be called heirs of humanitarian and democratic values is to honour the victims and survivors, to reflect upon their legacy and to act with this in mind.
Today, we commemorate the Jews, as well as the other victims of the Nazi Regime who suffered and died cruelly, inhumanly, all of them victims of an absurd, unthinkable, targeted hatred. We commemorate six million Jews of all ages, six million innocent people, who had committed no crime.
Today, it is also an opportunity to remember the survivors, who have never ceased to remember, for the rest of their lives, the terror and the extreme violence they experienced.
Our remembrance today is an elementary imperative.
Equally elementary is our duty to reflect and rethink about the conditions under which the unthinkable happened. So that we will never have to admit again that “I was first seeing the dead and then the murder occurred”, as the Greek Nobel laureate poet, Odysseus Elytis, cautions.
Taking over the annual Presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), about a year ago, Greece proposed Education as the leading thread of its mandate. Education is the primary weapon in combating hateful ideologies. With Education we honor the memory of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust in a way which will ensure rethinking on the causes that let it happen and promote taking action against future threats born of totalitarianism.
New threats are more than obvious today, mainly on the digital battlefield, with hate speech, racism, discrimination, antisemitism and Holocaust denial and distortion.
The IHRA has identified Holocaust distortion –the systematic attempts not to question whether the Holocaust happened but to excuse, misrepresent, or minimize its history– as a priority issue; as the greatest contemporary menace to the legacy of the Holocaust.
We need a zero-tolerance approach to distortion and we are all responsible to raise awareness.
The Holocaust challenges understanding in a unique way: How can the unthinkable be understood? How can moral judgement be cultivated in the benefit of freedom and democracy, in order to impede the way to totalitarianism, ensuring that the unthinkable will not happen again?
Deeply and strongly believing that Education is the onset of our moral commitment for a world with no more genocide, the Greek Presidency of the IHRA took action devoting the highest of its efforts with the aim of broadening and deepening of initiatives in this field.
Today, honoring the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we enhance our commitment; because we must not only be ambassadors for Holocaust remembrance. We have to go beyond that. We need to rethink, raise awareness and take action against new threats, like distortion.
In light of the grave acts of antisemitic violence that have occurred in many places worldwide, the IHRA Plenary condemns the illegal hate speech which constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence, and supports the statement issued by the IHRA Chair, Ambassador Chris J. Lazaris, on 14 May:
IHRA Chair, Ambassador Chris Lazaris, states: “We strongly condemn the antisemitic violence and hate speech that has taken place in response to the recent escalation of violence in the Middle East. While freedoms of speech and protest are essential pillars of all democracies, nothing can justify hate speech. We must unequivocally oppose all attacks targeting Jewish places of worship as well as antisemitic rhetoric, including holding Jews collectively responsible for events now developing in the Middle East. In a world where antisemitism is on the rise, we must stand together and clearly denounce this as an attack on the cornerstones of a free and democratic society.
We call on the relevant authorities to ensure the protection of Jews and of Jewish places of worship against violence and hate speech.”
IHRA Chair Ambassador Michaela Küchler states, “As the world watched yesterday in shock at the storming of the US Capitol building, the consequences of hate speech and baseless conspiracy myths were laid bare. This latest antidemocratic outburst reveals the increasingly violent nature of this dangerous trend, found all over the world. It erodes democratic principles and values, incites hate and encourages scapegoating of minorities. It is one, which time and again, provides a platform for antisemitism and Holocaust denial and distortion. That yesterday’s events featured right-wing militia groups and antisemitic extremists should come as no surprise; these phenomena have always attacked the very heart of our democracies and pluralistic societies.
“As a consequence of the darkest period of our history, the Member Countries of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance pledged to strengthen the moral commitment of our peoples and governments, accepting their responsibility to safeguard democratic institutions to uphold universal human rights. With this in mind, we strongly condemn this antidemocratic display and call for its unambiguous denunciation by all political parties and officials, international institutions and civil society leaders from around the world – our freedoms, our lives and the viability of our democracies depends on it.”
IHRA Chair Michaela Küchler states:
“We view with great concern how historians researching the Holocaust are being sued in Poland for presenting the findings of their work. Together, the Member Countries of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) have pledged to uphold the Stockholm Declaration and the 2020 IHRA Ministerial Declaration. In doing so, they have committed themselves to aiding in ‘efforts to promote education, remembrance, and research about the Holocaust,’ encouraging ‘the study of the Holocaust in all its dimensions,’ and encouraging ‘all countries and societies to address their respective pasts by dealing openly and accurately with the historical record.’ It is now in light of these commitments that we address the Polish government, calling upon it to ensure the viability of free and independent research.”
Dr Kathrin Meyer, Executive Secretary of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) said: “It was with deep shock that I learned of the knife attack at a rabbi’s house in New York State on Saturday 28 December, the seventh night of Hannukah. I express my deepest solidarity with those wounded and threatened in the attack and with the whole Jewish community across Rockland County.
We condemn this antisemitic hate crime. A Rockland County legislator said the Jewish community was “scared but not surprised” by this latest abhorrent incident which is a frightening indication of the growing number of antisemitic threats and attacks we are seeing throughout the United States and beyond.
IHRA’s 34 Member Countries work tirelessly to counter antisemitism in all of its forms. We call on political, social and religious leaders to speak out against all hate crimes, acts of violence or incitement, and to support social and educational efforts to address them.
Antisemitism is not a Jewish issue. It is an issue for all societies in which it grows.”
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) unites governments and experts to strengthen, advance and promote Holocaust education, research and remembrance and to uphold the commitments to the 2000 Stockholm Declaration.
IHRA Chair Ambassador Küchler states, “It is simply unacceptable to compare the inconveniences brought about by coronavirus measures with any part of the persecution and murder of Europe’s Jews. Doing so scorns the memory of the millions of victims of the Holocaust. I strongly condemn the Holocaust distortion and antisemitic conspiracy myths gaining traction at so-called ‘Querdenker’ demonstrations against coronavirus restrictions around Germany. Comparisons between coronavirus measures and the 1933 Enabling Act (Ermächtigungsgesetz), or social distancing guidelines and the horrors experienced by Anne Frank and Sophie Scholl are not only outrageous; they twist our understanding of what led up to the Holocaust and the enormity of its devastation. Such comparisons erode our understanding of historical truth.
“The importance of remembering the Holocaust, of respecting the victims, of safeguarding the record – all fundamental to preserving democratic values – only grows as the memory of the Holocaust grows more distant and fewer survivors are with us to share their testimony. The ‘Querdenker’ demonstrations remind us of our responsibility to counter distortion and to insist upon truth in these challenging times. It is with this responsibility in mind that the German Presidency of the IHRA has made the fight against Holocaust distortion an urgent priority.”
IHRA Chair Ambassador Michaela Küchler says, “The recent antisemitic actions coordinated by the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement in the days leading up to Yom Kippur are deeply troubling. Some of the incidents are now under police investigation. This dangerous campaign is antisemitic and poses a threat to our Jewish citizens.
“When antisemitism and incitement to hatred or violence occur, all of society is affected. More and more, we see how extremist groups feel emboldened to spread their hate-filled messages. This is unacceptable.
“With international cooperation, we can address the erosive effect extremist ideologies have on democratic values and pluralistic societies. I am joined by the Heads of Delegation of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in condemning the actions of such groups and underlining our shared understanding of their harmful nature. Together, the IHRA’s 34 Member Countries will continue to encourage the strengthening of Holocaust education, remembrance and research, developing and implementing practical tools and guidelines to help combat them.”
IHRA Chair Ambassador Michaela Küchler states, “The news of yesterday’s attack on a Hamburg synagogue left me with a deep feeling of unease. The IHRA stands in solidarity with the Jewish community in Hamburg and wishes the victim a speedy recovery.
“This is, as German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas rightly pointed out, unfortunately not a one-off case. One year after the attack in Halle, we see that the threat to Germany’s Jewish community remains. Beyond this recent attack in Hamburg, the rise in antisemitic incidents, both in Germany and beyond, reveal a worrying trend where people, radicalized and filled with hate, feel increasingly emboldened to act upon dangerous ideas. These actions pose a threat not only to our Jewish communities, but to all of society. A society in which antisemitism grows is one in which its core principles are under attack.”
