Holocaust Remembrance Conference: Remembering the past. Shaping the future.

For the first time, the Commission organised a public commemorative event in Brussels to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, in cooperation with the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the Swedish Presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

In his opening speech, Vice-President Schinas stated: 

“It is the litmus test of our generation to ensure that the memory of the victims of the Shoah will live on; that every child learns about the Holocaust; and that such atrocities never happen again.”

Paulina Brandberg, Swedish Minister for Gender Equality and Deputy Minister for Employment, Ambassador Ann Bernes, Chair of the Swedish Presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, and Professor Yehuda Bauer, International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Honorary Chair, delievered opening statements.

The audience, in person and online, was moved by the testimony of Henriette Kretz, a Holocaust Survivor, born in 1934 in a Jewish family in the then Polish city of Stanisławów (now in Ukraine), whose parents were shot in front of her eyes. She survived hidden in a monastery in Poland. 

As this year marks also the 80th anniversary of major Jewish uprising, such as the Warsaw Ghetto uprising on 19 April 1943, two Jewish scouts 18 years old read the last letter written by the leader of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Mordechai Anielewicz. Candles in memory of all the victims of Nazi persecutions were lighted by representatives of major Jewish umbrella organisations partners in the event and Ms. Kretz, and Jewish funeral prayers recited, followed by a minute of silence. 

The Commission then launched the starting of the consultation process on the flagship initiative of the EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life - a network of sites 'Where the Holocaust happened' - with a panel discussion where three experts reflected on the objectives of this future European network.

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 Congress, European Jewish Community Center, European Union of Jewish Students, and World Jewish Congress.

Watch the full video of the conference here, the short video here and pictures here.