19 Winter 2025 of remembrance, where they exist. It also advises governments to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, as recommended by the initiative of the Ministers of Education of the member States of the Council of Europe in October 2022 and Resolution 60/7 of the UN General Assembly of November 2005.19 The recent Declaration by the Council of the European Union stresses that the harmful effects for collective historical memory and for the resilience, cohesion and security of European democratic societies should not be underestimated and needs to be confronted. It adds that antisemitic hate speech, including Holocaust denial, trivialization, and distortion should be adequately prosecuted.20 We therefore need education for school age children, and continuously thereafter, to demonstrate the terrible lessons we should learn from the Holocaust. But these lessons must be taught with the sensibilities of the audience in mind. In other words, the history must be placed within its contemporary context without trivializing the facts. Michael Whine was the co-founder of the Community Security Trust and Senior Consultant to the World Jewish Congress. He is currently a Member of ECRI, an independent human rights monitoring body of the Council of Europe that specializes in questions relating to the fight against racism, discrimination, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance in Europe. 19. ECRI “General Policy Recommendation No.9 (revised) on preventing and combating antisemitism,” Council of Europe (2021), available at https://edoc.coe.int/en/ racism/10309-ecri-general-policy-recommendation-no9-revised-on-preventing-and-combating-antisemitism. html#:~:text=Regarding%20protective%20 measures%2C%20the%20Recommendation,law%20 enforcement%20and%20security%20authorities 20. Council Declaration on fostering Jewish life and combating antisemitism, Outcome of Proceedings, No.14245/24 (Oct.15, 2024), available at https://data. consilium.europa.eu/doc/ST-14245-2024-INIT/en/pdf
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