18 No. 73 JUSTICE The Maly Trostenets memorial in Belarus reveals another distortion. It fails to mention that many of the 200,000 deaths it memorialized were of Jews.13 Denial of the Holocaust in the Muslim and Arab World Denial and distortion were common in the Muslim and Arab world, until the Peace process began, however disrupted that has been. Muslim States no longer promote denial, prompted in part by the statement by the Saudibased Muslim World League denouncing denial, and its members’ visit to the Washington DC-based Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017, and then the Muslim religious leaders’ 2020 pilgrimage to Auschwitz.14 But Iran continued to promote denial and distortion. It did so to undermine the existence of the State of Israel, promote antisemitism, and advance its influence in the Muslim world. It did this by several means of course, but it was a constant feature of Iranian policy since the late Ruhollah Khomeini. However, Iran does not currently promote denial. This activity peaked under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Under his presidency and patronage, the country hosted international cartoon competitions and exhibitions. The 2022 UN Resolution condemning denial, which was supported by all member States except Iran, was really influential in combating this policy, and Iranian presidents have since then condemned the Holocaust.15 For example, President Rouhani called it a “reprehensible and condemnable crime,” although he questioned the numbers and methodology, thereby shifting the official Iranian stance from denial to distortion.16 Holocaust Distortion in Recent Years The growth of European nationalisms in the twentyfirst century has been the impetus for governments in Eastern Europe, the Baltic States, and the Balkans to rewrite their histories under Nazi occupation. They have done so by promoting the idea that collaboration with the occupiers was primarily undertaken to defeat communism. Control of their historical narratives has become a major objective of their governments, and they have sought to cleanse themselves, and their collaborationist War-time leaders, of guilt. Thus, they equate the Holocaust with the Soviet occupation. And they do so with enormous resources. The Polish Institute of National Remembrance, created by the Polish parliament, had a budget of 125 million dollars when it started.17 Other recent examples include the reference to Auschwitz as a “prisoner of war” camp in Irish school textbooks.18 So, denial, distortion, and trivialization feed into and support each other. Distortion and trivialization occur ever more frequently, especially on social media. Comparisons between the Holocaust and Gaza appear daily, promoted not just by the traditional deniers but also by those we should consider moral and responsible leaders. In truth they are merely ignorant, sometimes playing to the masses for political support. So, we need States to educate and legislate against distortion, as well as denial, but to do so without infringing our concepts of free speech. The General Policy Recommendation No.9 (revised) on preventing and combating antisemitism, adopted on July 1, 2021 by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) noted that States should promote learning about the Holocaust, and the developments leading up to it, within schools, in education in general, and ensure that teachers are adequately trained to address this issue in a manner whereby pupils and students also reflect upon current dangers and how the recurrence of such events can be prevented, including by visiting places 12. Nicole Wu, “Monuments and Holocaust Distortion,” HOLOCAUST EDUCATIONAL TRUST, available at https:// www.het.org.uk/ambassadors/about-the-ambassadorprogramme/ambassador-blog/1057-monumentsholocaust-distortion 13. Ibid. 14. “His Excellency Sheikh: Dr. Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-issa,” MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE, available at https:// www.themwl.org/en/SG2019 15. G.A. Res. 76/250 (Jan. 20, 2022), available at https:// documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n22/235/79/pdf/ n2223579.pdf 16. Saed Kamali Dehgan, “Iranian president Hassan Rouhani recognizes ‘reprehensible’ Holocaust,” THE GUARDIAN (Sept. 25, 2013), available at https://www.theguardian. com/world/2013/sep/25/iran-rouhani-recognisesholocaust 17. Katia Patin, “Some Poles Collaborated with the Nazis, but Poland’s ‘Ministry of Memory’ Wants People to Forget,” TIME (Sept. 6, 2022), available at https://time. com/6208257/poland-ministry-of-memory-war-holocausthistory/ 18. Inbal Goldberger, “European Textbooks: Ireland Review,” IMPACT-SE (Nov. 2024), available at https://impact-se. org/wp-content/uploads/European-Textbooks-IrelandReview.pdf
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