Stockholm International Forum

What do we know about the general knowledge of the Holocaust in our countries? Do you think that opinion polls and other types of research indicate that the present consciousness about the Nazi genocide is deep, or shallow, or sometimes non-existent? Have we succeeded in transferring information from an older generation, and from survivors of the Holocaust, to young people today? Are curriculums in our school system aware of our obligation here, or do important centers for teaching often fail in this respect?

Is education the answer? Do we know if those who have been properly taught about the Holocaust, are significantly less inclined to believe the lies of the deniers? Or are values here even more important than knowledge? What I try to ask you is whether people, who have studied democratic values on freedom, tolerance and human rights, are those most effectively inoculated against antisemitic prejudice. Of course I understand than the combination of values and knowledge is probably decisive. But where do you think our main emphasis should be – the information of facts or the teaching of values on which tyranny and democracy, respectively, are built?

What is most dangerous for the future: the outright denials of the Holocaust or the relativization of the Holocaust? Some pretend that there never was a Nazi genocide of the European Jews, no extermination camps or gas chambers, etc. Others admit, or at least do not deny, that intentional masslaughter took place. But, they say, the murder of the Jews was not at all unique, also people from other groups were killed in a similar way during the war - for instance millions of German prisoners of war were exterminated in a way which resembles the Nazi killing of Jews. I sometimes have a feeling that the extreme deniers of the Holocaust might in the future be less dangerous than the extreme relativists of the Holocaust. At least, if the agitation of the relativists makes an impact on people in our countries, that might make it much more difficult to teach the facts of the Holocaust.

Finally, in more concrete terms, what should our governments and parliaments do in order to defend new generations against the deniers? Is there any significant lack of research which makes it more difficult than it should be for us to convince people about the catastrophe for the European Jewry about 60 years ago? In which democratic countries is there strong political opposition to teaching young people about the Holocaust? And do you think that making the denial of the Holocaust a criminal offense – as is the case in for exemple Germany, France and Austria - should be part of the legislation also in other countries?




You are here: 2000 / Workshops, Panels and Seminars / Workshops on Education / Workshop 3 on Education, "Facing Denial in Society and Education" / Presentation by Mr. Per Ahlmark

	Participants Countries and organizations Conference documentation Conference programme	Report from Workshop 3 on Education: "Facing denial in society and education" Presentation by Mr. Per Ahlmark Presentation by Mr. Stéphane Bruchfeld Presentation by Professor Irwin Cotler Presentation by Dr. Shimon Samuels Presentation by Professor Robert Jan van Pelt Presentation by Mr. Per Ahlmark Ahlmark, Per Presentation by Per Ahlmark We are now to deal with a perversion. The Holocaust is a Jewish invention, thousands of antisemites say. There were no gas chambers; the Nazis never tried to exterminate the Jewish people. Of course we understand that those who lie about the crimes of the Nazis are those most likely to repeat them. They deny the Holocaust for the reason that they themselves are inclined to complete what Hitler did not have time to carry out. Thus, the perversion is obvious. The deniers claim: these millions of Jews were not killed. But they are evidently not alive. Thus, six million European Jews were never here, on our planet, they have never existed – the ultimate annihilation. We founded The Swedish Committee Against Antisemitism seventeen years ago (1983). The denial of the Holocaust immediately became our most important field of study and resistance. By lying about the Holocaust, the Jew-haters try to destroy memory. The purpose is to clear Nazism from its crimimal stigma and rehabilitate antisemitism. By accusing the Jews of having invented the Holocaust in order to make non-Jews feel guilty, they transform the crime into an allegation against the victims. First the antisemites take Jewish lives; a few decades later they take their deaths from them too. The Holocaust is, as we know, now being transformed from Memory to History. If we fail in this transformation, antisemitism might again explode in some of our countries. Of, course, education about past hatred of Jews in not enough. But without efficient teaching about the Holocaust we are all in danger. Of course, the great experts of this panel will all give us important perspectives on this topic. However, I also want to ask the presenters to try to answer or illustrate the following four questions, or one or two of them: What do we know about the general knowledge of the Holocaust in our countries? Do you think that opinion polls and other types of research indicate that the present consciousness about the Nazi genocide is deep, or shallow, or sometimes non-existent? Have we succeeded in transferring information from an older generation, and from survivors of the Holocaust, to young people today? Are curriculums in our school system aware of our obligation here, or do important centers for teaching often fail in this respect? Is education the answer? Do we know if those who have been properly taught about the Holocaust, are significantly less inclined to believe the lies of the deniers? Or are values here even more important than knowledge? What I try to ask you is whether people, who have studied democratic values on freedom, tolerance and human rights, are those most effectively inoculated against antisemitic prejudice. Of course I understand than the combination of values and knowledge is probably decisive. But where do you think our main emphasis should be – the information of facts or the teaching of values on which tyranny and democracy, respectively, are built? What is most dangerous for the future: the outright denials of the Holocaust or the relativization of the Holocaust? Some pretend that there never was a Nazi genocide of the European Jews, no extermination camps or gas chambers, etc. Others admit, or at least do not deny, that intentional masslaughter took place. But, they say, the murder of the Jews was not at all unique, also people from other groups were killed in a similar way during the war - for instance millions of German prisoners of war were exterminated in a way which resembles the Nazi killing of Jews. I sometimes have a feeling that the extreme deniers of the Holocaust might in the future be less dangerous than the extreme relativists of the Holocaust. At least, if the agitation of the relativists makes an impact on people in our countries, that might make it much more difficult to teach the facts of the Holocaust. Finally, in more concrete terms, what should our governments and parliaments do in order to defend new generations against the deniers? Is there any significant lack of research which makes it more difficult than it should be for us to convince people about the catastrophe for the European Jewry about 60 years ago? In which democratic countries is there strong political opposition to teaching young people about the Holocaust? And do you think that making the denial of the Holocaust a criminal offense – as is the case in for exemple Germany, France and Austria - should be part of the legislation also in other countries? >> Back to top	Introduction Opening Session: Messages and speeches Plenary Sessions: Messages and speeches Workshops, Panels and Seminars Summary Report on Panels and Workshops Panel 1: Holocaust Education - Where Are We Going? Panel 2: Remembering the Holocaust - The challenges of Memory Panel 3: Holocaust Research - From the Archives to the Classroom Workshops on Education Workshops on Remembrance and Representation Workshops on Research Closing Session and Declaration Other Activities


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