Arolsen Archives welcome new EU strategy on combating antisemitism
The European Commission has vowed to combat antisemitism all over Europe. Various measures are being introduced to safeguard the future of Jewish life in Europe.
Jewish people often do not feel safe in the EU. Nine out of ten Jews feel that antisemitism has increased in their country, and 38% of them have already considering emigrating. The European Commission wants to improve the situation for Jewish men and women by implementing three measures:
- Preventing and combating all forms of antisemitism
- Protecting and fostering Jewish life in the EU
- Education, research and Holocaust remembrance
These measures will be complemented by the EU’s international efforts to fight antisemitism worldwide.
»Europe can only prosper when its Jewish communities feel safe and prosper.«
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
Antisemitism is incompatible with EU values
Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President for Promoting Our European Way of Life, declared, “Antisemitism is incompatible with the values of the EU and our European way of life. This strategy—the first of its kind—is our commitment to combating all forms of antisemitism and ensuring a future for Jewish life in Europe and beyond. We owe it to those who perished in the Holocaust, we owe it to the survivors, and we owe it to future generations.”
»We very much appreciate the fact that antisemitism is being taken seriously as a Europe-wide problem and the European Commission wants to tackle it head-on with its strategy.«
Floriane Azoulay, Director of the Arolsen Archives
Lack of knowledge about the Holocaust
The European Commission reports that one out of every 20 Europeans has never heard of the Holocaust. As an international center on Nazi persecution, the Arolsen Archives consider it a key mission to contribute to debates about remembering and grappling with the Nazi period, political persecution, antisemitism and racism.
In light of this, the new initiative by the European Commission sends an important signal, according to Floriane Azoulay, Director of the Arolsen Archives: “We very much appreciate the fact that antisemitism is being taken seriously as a Europe-wide problem and the European Commission wants to tackle it head-on with its strategy. Projects such as #everynamecounts have shown us that we can motivate young people to build bridges—to remember the victims of the Nazis and to promote respect, diversity and democracy in today’s society. We want to be involved in even more EU countries with programs like these so we can do our part to implement this important EU initiative.”
