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| You are here: 2000 / Workshops, Panels and Seminars / Workshops on Remembrance and Representation / Workshop 4 on Remembrance, "Remembering the Holocaust: The Public Perception of Remembrance" / Presentation by Mr. Ralph Grunewald | |||||||||
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Participants Countries and organizations Conference documentation Conference programme 
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Report from Workshop 4 on Remembrance: "Remembering the Holocaust: the Public Perception of Remembrance" Presentation by Mr. Ralph Grunewald Presentation by Mr. Arne Ruth Presentation by Dr. irena Veisaite Presentation by Mr. Ralph Grunewald Grunewald, Ralph Presentation by Ralph Grunewald The public Perception of remembrance
Very few nations have set an agenda that places the Holocaust at the center of the national consciousness. Some have mandated Holocaust education or have adopted national days of remembrance. Other nations have opened up their WWII-era archives. But recognition of the importance of Holocaust remembrance is a relatively recent phenomenon and many nations devote no resources to Holocaust memorialization. Underlying this International Forum on the Holocaust is a fundamental challenge: as the last generation to live among the survivors and the first generation who must transmit their memories after their deaths -- as Michael Berenbaum has characterized it -- how do we ensure that we do justice to the event and its victims? Holocaust memory will be largely shaped by the means in which it is conveyed. We must be mindful that memory of historic events throughout history has often resulted in folklore or myth with little or no resemblance to what, in fact, took place. Public perception of remembrance is shaped by the degree to which institutions and their leaders -- as well as families and individuals -- commemorate the Holocaust. What matters is the seriousness by which Holocaust memory is accorded a meaningful place in civic life and religious ritual. Fundamental to this process are initiatives taken by political, civic, and religious leaders. Nations in which leaders take it upon themselves to remember the Holocaust are also the ones in which Holocaust education and research flourish on many levels. Among the most effective means to instill Holocaust memory in the national consciousness are civic commemorations -- in Parliaments, city halls, in regional capitals, military facilities, public squares, and similar venues. In the United States and Israel, Yom HaShoa has become the national day of remembrance. In other nations, January 27 -- today, the date of the liberation of Auschwitz -- or other significant dates have become the official remembrance days. These events focus the attention of millions of people on a single event; they demand reflection and introspection. This Forum will hopefully encourage all nations that have not designated a date to set aside a day for the memory of the Holocaust. Yet civic commemorations, alone, cannot focus the attention of an entire nation. To broaden the experience requires efforts to instill Holocaust remembrance on the family and individual level. In the Jewish faith, one of the cataclysmic events in history -- the exodus from Egypt by the Israelites -- has been ritualized as a dinner at home, the Passover seder. This and many other rituals recall historic events that are relevant today despite the passage of millennia. And now, only decades after the Holocaust, in synagogues around the world, prayers for the victims are recited. This new liturgy is added as the Holocaust recedes and as survivors pass away. One of the challenges for the future is the development of ritual and liturgy by non-Jewish religious institutions. Commitment to national civic ceremonies will give rise to local manifestations, and places of non-Jewish worship will begin to develop meaningful programs and prayers for both Jewish and non-Jewish victims. Finally, commemoration in the home and by individuals can be powerful and meaningful experiences. These private remembrances are vitally important and perhaps the International Forum will create an atmosphere for personal commemorations. No matter what the form of remembrance, one essential element must unite them, and that is historic veracity. The victims will have died a double death if their stories are not told with historic accuracy now and a thousand years from now. This is the great challenge and opportunity that faces us as we begin the new millennium. >> Back to top |
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Introduction Opening Session: Messages and speeches Plenary Sessions: Messages and speeches Workshops, Panels and Seminars
Other Activities |
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| For information about this production and the Stockholm International Forum Conference Series please go to www.humanrights.gov.se or contact Information Rosenbad, SE-103 33 Stockholm, Sweden | |||||||||