Thoughts on Holocaust Remembrance

Much has been written and said recently about the Hungarian government’s relationship with the local Jewish communities. I don’t want to address that here. Rather I wanted to offer some thoughts about Holocaust remembrance more generally.

The UK took over the Chair of IHRA this week. That’s the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. IHRA is a 31 member international body, which seeks to ensure that the Holocaust is sensitively and appropriately commemorated, researched and taught. And the UK’s aim over our year in the Chair is to increase IHRA’s effectiveness and international presence.

Not that this engagement on Holocaust issues is a new thing. Nor is holding the IHRA Chair the UK’s only contribution to helping remember the Holocaust. Prime Minister Cameron has convened a Commission to recommend how to create a permanent Holocaust Memorial and linked education resource in the UK. The Commission is tasked to make that recommendation by July 2015 – the 70th anniversary of the British liberation of the Bergen-Belsen camp. Meanwhile the UK’s Holocaust Memorial Day Trust is the inspiration for over 2,000 events, which take place in January every year in the UK.

But it is in the education around the Holocaust that we place the most emphasis. The Holocaust is a mandatory subject in the national school curriculum. And the Centre for Holocaust Education in London University pioneers the study of how the Holocaust is taught. A separate organisation, the Holocaust Education Trust takes 2 sixth form students (so aged 16-17) from every school in England and Wales to Auschwitz.

We’ve been active here in Hungary too in supporting those who seek to remember the Holocaust – through a book launch, supporting the unveiling of a memorial and by organising a Human Rights movie day. That work will continue. And it is particularly exciting that it will be Hungary which will take over the IHRA Chair from the UK  in 2015. So we (and the UK’s representative to IHRA) have been in touch with our hosts about that in recent months. We’re keen to make sure that what we do in our respective Chairmanships will be self-reinforcing and help consolidate improvements in Holocaust remembrance.

To celebrate the UK taking the IHRA Chair I held a dinner this week with representatives of government and of local Jewish communities. I’m sure that will be the first of many chances to discuss Holocaust issues together over the coming months.