HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE CONFERENCE:

Remembering the past. Shaping the future.

On 23 January 2024, the European Commission, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance hosted the 'Holocaust Remembrance Conference: Remembering the past. Shaping the future.' on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Baronesse Regina Sluszny, Holocaust Survivor and Hidden Child, shared her testimony in a conversation with Katharina von Schnurbein, Coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life.  About her presence, Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, Margaritis Schinas stated:

"Dear Regina, thank you for your tireless work and for finding the strength to recount your story, and that of your husband, in schools across Belgium.  Stories like yours are testament to the resilience of the human spirit; to the triumph of hope over despair. They provide us with a moral imperative to keep fighting for a world free from antisemitism and hate." 

During the conference, Vice-President Schinas announced the launch of the creation of a Europe-wide network of places where the Holocaust happened:

"Over the past years, we have seen multiple attempts by enemies of democracy to instrumentalise the Holocaust and fuelled Holocaust denial, distortion, and trivialisation. As we prepare to mark  International Holocaust Remembrance Day, let us all make a solemn promise to redouble our efforts. On the side of the Commission, we have increased funding for projects on Holocaust education and remembrance. We are launching a public open call for tender for the amount of EUR 3 million to establish a secretariat and develop the Europe-wide Network of places Where the Holocaust Happened, building on the broad consultation process that was launched at this conference one year ago."

Marie-Colline Leroy, Secretary of State for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunities and Diversity of Belgium, Sara Lustig and Ambassador Terezija Gras, Co-Chair of the Croatian Presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Sergey Lagodinsky, Vice-President of the European Parliament Working Group against antisemitism, and Dani Dayan, Chairman of Yad Vashem, also delievered opening statements. 

A panel discussion on safeguarding Holocaust sites with experts addressed the importance, the need  and the benefits of such a network of places for the Holocaust remembrance efforts.

They also took part in a candle lighting commemoration ceremony alongside Emma Hallali, President of teh European Union of Jewish Students. 

Musical interludes, including the song Wiegala by Ilse Weber, a victim of the Holocaust, were performed during the conference. 

Ahead of the conference, Vice-President Margaritis Schinas joined the IWalk Belgium: Hidden Children, survivors of the Holocaust in Brussels, which retraces the Brussels-based lives of four child survivors of the Holocaust, together with Director of House of European History museum, Constance Itzel, Amb. Dani Dayan, State Secretary Marie-Colline Leroy, Brussels Mayor Philippe Close, H.E. Amb. of Israel to EU and NATO Haim Regev and the Head of the Representation in Belgium at European Commission Stefaan De Rynck. 

This conference was organised in cooperation with the American Jewish Committee Transatlantic Institute, B’nai B’rith Europe, B’nai B’rith International, European Jewish Association, European Jewish Congress, European Jewish Community Center, European Union of Jewish Students, and World Jewish Congress.

The page of the event contains the full programme.