Remembering the Holocaust

News: United Nations marked 27th January every year as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

What is International Holocaust Remembrance Day?

The day marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in January 1945. It provides an opportunity to recount the atrocities of the Holocaust that resulted in the death of an estimated 6 million Jews.

Why there is a need to remember the holocaust?

As society moves away from the holocaust, forces of antisemitism, racial and religious intolerance, discrimination, and hate speech pose new challenges to global civilization and values. The Anti-Defamation League Global 100, An index of antisemitism, found that an estimated 1 billion people harbor antisemitism attitudes. It was found that

Across Asia, only 23% of persons surveyed had heard of the Holocaust and believed the historical account.

North America and Europe show that younger people are less likely to be aware of the historical accounts of the Holocaust, with less than half of those surveyed under the age of 35 has ever heard of the Holocaust.

Why India’s youth is vulnerable to hate speech and racial ideologies?

India growing global efforts towards digitization provides an opportunity to expand youth networks. But misinformation on social media needs to be monitored, as it can leave youth vulnerable to hate speech online and racial ideologies.

According to the Center for Countering Digital Hatred, online hate speech is more challenging for languages other than English, as social media companies like Facebook and YouTube lack global content moderation teams.

This marks the importance of empowering youth with knowledge, educating them about the Holocaust and antisemitism today to deepen reflection about contemporary issues that affect societies around the world, like the power of extremist ideologies, propaganda, the abuse of official power, group-targeted hate etc.

What steps did world countries initiate to educate students about the holocaust?

India: through its National Education Policy 2020, already creates a fertile ground for working on Holocaust education programmes.

Embassies of Israel and Germany: Together with the support of UNESCO, are organizing a workshop on antisemitism for policymakers, school principals and educators. The aim is to equip educators with the knowledge and use history to teach the lesson of ‘Never Again’.

What should be the way forward?

As the memory of the Holocaust fades, its lessons must not. It is important that youth are given the knowledge to combat myths and falsehood. Only this can lead to an enlightened society.

Source: This post is based on the article “Remembering the Holocaust” published in The Hindu on 27th January 2022.