The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted, on 17 March, a Recommendation on passing on Remembrance of the Holocaust and preventing crimes against humanity.
“This text will become an important international reference at a time when there are fewer and fewer survivors to testify. It is a breakthrough that took several years to prepare”, says Daniel Höltgen, the Secretary General’s Special Representative for Combating Antisemitism. He points out that its adoption, in the wake of Russia’s exclusion from the Council of Europe, was no accident. “Moscow blocked it for a long time because of the Russian interpretation of European history, which is different from that of the other Member States. It had objected to the mention in the text of certain groups of victims of the Holocaust, notably homosexuals”. “Conversely”, he adds, “it wanted to include the Red Army”.
Another obstacle is the fact that the text considers the Holocaust as “a history subject in itself”, but links its passing on with “other crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity”. “Stalinism is one”, points out Daniel Höltgen, “and the Russians wanted the Recommendation to stick to the Holocaust only”, without opening the door to further crimes.
The Recommendation finally adopted will be communicated to the 46 Member States, which will be responsible for taking it into account in their school curricula and in their remembrance policies.
“It reflects a strong commitment by the Council of Europe to promote memory in history teaching in Europe”, underlines Daniel Höltgen.
For Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, “at a time when antisemitism is on the rise, we must spare no effort to remember the victims and to ensure that remembrance will continue in the future. This is an essential part of our collective responsibility to protect Jews and Jewish life in Europe. It is part of our common European values”. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)