Project: Monitoring Serbia’s OSCE Chairmanship27Jan2015
Remembering the Holocaust, fostering tolerance
Remembering the Holocaust is a powerful way for societies to remind themselves of the need to counter anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance and to protect, promote and defend human rights and fundamental freedoms in today’s world.
Many countries observe 27 January, the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. This day marks the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Red Army in 1945.
In many OSCE participating States, officials and civil society representatives gather to honour Holocaust survivors, to pay tribute to those who rescued Jews and others and to reflect about the lessons of the Holocaust. Governments use these days as an opportunity to speak out against contemporary forms of racism and anti-Semitism.
Reporting on remembrance
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) reports on Holocaust remembrance and education in the 57 participating States of the OSCE. The infographic below is based on the newly-released report, "Holocaust Memorial Days: An overview of remembrance and education in the OSCE region."
Education
Today, educators across the OSCE region are organizing special activities to give students the opportunity to reflect about the Holocaust and learn that anti-Semitism did not begin nor end with this tragic event. Meetings with survivors, study visits to memorials and museums, film screenings, exhibitions and essay competitions on the Holocaust take place in many countries. This complements existing efforts by governments to include teaching about the Holocaust in history curricula.
In the lead up to the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, the Israeli Embassy in Vienna presented “A Monument of Good Deeds – Dreams and Hopes of Children during the Holocaust,” an interactive exhibition, at the Hofburg Palace on 22 January 2015. It is dedicated to the children who perished in the Holocaust and the legacies they left behind.