Online Launch of Holocaust Memorial Days: An overview of remembrance and education in the OSCE region

The aim of this event is twofold: to launch the Holocaust Memorial Days publication as well as to focus on challenges and good practices in combating anti-Semitism through Holocaust remembrance and education.

Background

A world that remembers the Holocaust through both commemoration and education is a world in which the horrors of the past will hopefully never be repeated. The Holocaust provides the ultimate lesson on what happens when societies do not resolutely reject harmful prejudices and hate, and fail to continuously strive to counter all forms of intolerance and discrimination. However, the Holocaust Memorial Days publication does not serve only to remember but also to remind that resolute actions need to be taken to counter long-standing and contemporary manifestations of intolerance.

In the year of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, the challenges of intolerance still remain. Holocaust denial, distortion and trivialization represent an effort to exonerate anti-Semitism, Nazism, fascism and aggressive nationalism from the middle of the last century, but also legitimize its new forms in current times.

This is why it is so important to continue remembrance of the Holocaust, through both grassroots and high-level events, and include it in all stages of the education process, contributing to a society that remains resistant to the narrative of extremist right-wing and nationalist organizations, and to all those who perpetuate the scourge of anti-Semitism.