27th January is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On 27th January 1945, Red Army troops liberated the concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. As the largest concentration camp, Auschwitz has become a symbol of the genocide of 6 million Jews committed by the Nazi regime. That is why the UN declared this day as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day and every year numerous commemorative events are organised in the Bundestag, the European Parliament and at many memorial sites. They all pursue the goal of keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive in our time, and at the same time they stand as a reminder that such crimes against humanity must never be repeated.

Commemorative events like these are part of the “culture of remembrance” in Germany and Europe (the term refers to the way individuals and society at large deal with their history). After a long period of forgetting and repressing the dark past of the Holocaust in Germany, the attitude towards a common remembrance changed in the 1980s. Remembering Nazi crimes against humanity as well as its victims together was seen as a prerequisite for reconciliation, but also to ensure that hatred and violence against Jews, which culminated in the Holocaust, will never occur again. Today, however, there are more and more voices saying that, since the Holocaust happened so long ago, there is too much focus on the Holocaust in school and that it is time to draw a line under the whole subject.

Studies suggest that schoolchildren are by no means learning too much about the Holocaust. On the contrary, according to one study, 40% of Germans between the ages of 18 and 34 say they know little or nothing about the Holocaust, and across Europe 20% of young people have never heard of the Holocaust at all. Do we need to change the way we teach about the Holocaust in school? For example: could school trips to the memorials of former concentration camps help create greater awareness?

In recent years, the attack on the synagogue in Halle in Germany as well as the attack on a Jewish supermarket in France have shocked Europe. But they were only the tip of the iceberg, as anti-Semitic crimes, especially acts of violence, have been on the rise in Europe for years. And the situation has worsened since the beginning of the pandemic with anti-Semitic conspiracy theories like Q-Anon further fueling anti-Semitic attitudes in European society. In view of these developments, do we need to change the way we remember the Holocaust?

What do our readers think? Our reader Jan sent us a comment pointing out that a poll conducted two months before the Halle attack found that “24% of Germans believe that ‘Jews’ have too much influence on world politics, and 27% agreed with a range of anti-Semitic prejudices and statements. Similar surveys in other European countries often reveal identical or even more negative views. Very often people think that too much attention is paid to the Holocaust.” Given these alarming statistics, do we need to change our culture of remembrance? And if so, how?

We have put this question to the literary and cultural scientist Aleida Assmann. Until recently, she was a professor at the University of Konstanz and in 2018, together with her husband Jan Assmann, she was awarded the Peace Prize of the Frankfurt Book Trade for her research on the culture of memory. How would Aleida Assmann respond to Jan’s comment?

Thank you, Jan, for this important question. These are really steep figures. I would say that these figures are not only representative for Germany at the moment, but also outside Germany in Europe, and also in the USA. One has to say that anti-Semitism has come back strongly in Germany. It was not socially acceptable for a long time and now it is socially acceptable again and is even anchored in the parties. Above all, it is anchored on the internet and in the social media. That is also the reason for its global spread. It is not a specifically German phenomenon, but we have to react to it especially in Germany. The voices that have always existed here are now suddenly gaining weight because they have a resonance outside of Germany. That is very, very dangerous.

Does that mean we have to change our culture of remembrance now? We always have to change it, in the sense that it needs to be oriented towards the target groups of young people, of migrants who immigrate to this country – the national “we” is constantly changing. In this respect, the culture of remembrance is constantly changing and that is precisely why it will be important to educate people here and to anchor education in order to contain these insane phrases of anti-Semitism, to counteract them and, above all, to strengthen historical education. To make the events of history clear and also to present them in terms of personal individual fates – which actually build the best emotional bridge.

Next we received a comment from Pedro. He emphasises that Europe’s “dark past” happened not so long ago and demands that we also remember the Holocaust on a European level so that it is never repeated.

We took Pedro’s question to the historian Dr Axel Drecoll. He is the director of the Sachsenhausen Memorial Site and Museum. What does he think?

Yes, Pedro, I would say that Europe definitely needs such a reminder. There are European institutions and they have to do that. Nevertheless, we must take care that diversity is preserved. Memory thrives on diversity and there are very different perspectives in the different countries. I think that’s okay, and it has to be that way as long as we can agree on a framework of values that lies behind this remembrance. Namely, the recognition of liberal democracy, of human dignity, of human rights. That must be the basis and it must be common for all.

The second thing I would like to say is: Of course, remembering the Holocaust is extremely important, always against the background that it must not be repeated. But we should not stop there. Because it will be possible for many people to agree that there must be no mass shootings of millions of people, or factory-organised murder in camps. But it starts with linguistic discrimination. There begins what later culminated in this terrible crime. So, of course we must remember the Holocaust, also with the aim that this mass murder must never happen again, but the roots, of course, lie much deeper. We have to tackle the roots, and that starts with the use of language.

We also put Pedro’s comment to Aleida Assmann. What would she say?

Dear Pedro, we already do that. And we’ve been doing it for a while, but maybe it isn’t known enough yet. I have to keep telling this story that is behind this new culture of remembrance: In 2000 there was a conference in Stockholm and they published and signed the so-called “Stockholm Declaration”. More than 40 nations took part and their aim was to carry the memory of the Holocaust over the threshold of the new millennium in order to show that “this memory does not end at this caesura, but has an indefinite extension into the future”. In 2005, the EU adopted this declaration and since then every member country that enters the EU becomes part of this remembrance society.  This is called IHRA. The IHRA is organised transnationally as a Holocaust remembrance community and works against anti-Semitism and for education and new forms of implementing knowledge in schools, museums etc.

How should Europe fight rising anti-Semitism? Do we need to change the way we remember the Holocaust? Do we need to change the way we teach about the Holocaust in school? Let us know your thoughts and comments in the form below and we’ll take them to policymakers and experts!

IMAGE CREDITS: kruwt (c) Bigstock. Jussi Puikkonen/KNAW