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Post-Holocaust issues

Man at Holocaust Memorial, Paris, AFP / Getty Images

The unparalleled horrors of the Holocaust teach us that there can be no place in society for hatred and discrimination. The Government is determined to fight back against it wherever it arises and make clear that it is always unacceptable. Today a number of post-Holocaust issues still remain unresolved.

The Government has stressed its commitment to ensuring that the Holocaust is never forgotten and that its lessons are learned by the current and future generations.As a part of this, the Foreign Secretary appointed Sir Andrew Burns as the United Kingdom Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues in June 2010.Sir Andrew is responsible for leading the UK’s post-Holocaust work, drawing together activity from across government and working with academic and non-governmental experts and organisations to provide a clearer British international profile, presence and influence.  

Sir Andrew is ensuring that the UK continues to take a leading role in international discussions on all Holocaust-related matters, especially those relating to education and the opening up of archives, and that we represent better the interests of the many Holocaust victims and their families.  Sir Andrew’s role also includes developing and implementing Government policy with respect to encouraging the restitution of Holocaust-era assets, including art and immovable property, and promoting the implementation of the Terezin Declaration on Holocaust Era Assets.

International Tracing Service

The International Tracing Service (ITS) maintains an archive that documents the fate of the victims of Nazi persecution and their families.

In December 2011, the Government hosted a launch event to mark the agreement to bring to the UK a digitalised copy of the ITS’ unique archive from the era of National Socialism.Housing a copy in The Wiener Library Institute of Contemporary History, which already holds the UK’s largest collection from the Holocaust and Nazi Era, will allow remaining Holocaust survivors and refugees and their families in this country the opportunity to access more easily information about their relatives.It will also allow British historians and researchers unparalleled access to a collection of unique historical material.  

The Government donated £500,000 to The Wiener Library in April 2012 and are encouraging those with an interest in the archive to support it financially so that it will become publicly available as soon as possible.

International Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF)

The Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF) consists of representatives of government, as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Its purpose is to ensure political support for the need for Holocaust education, remembrance, and research both nationally and internationally.

In 2012 the UK will be required to provide a report to the ITF on its major and most significant achievements over the last five years in Holocaust education, remembrance and research and to identify the challenges ahead in the fields of research, education, remembrance, holocaust denial and anti-Semitism.The aim of the reporting system will be to share best practice and to contribute to member countries’ efforts to promote the Stockholm Declaration. We will make a copy of this report available online.

This will build on the UK’s Country Report on Holocaust Education which was submitted to the ITF in December 2010. The report provides evidence of the UK’s world leading position in research into the challenges and opportunities of teaching this complex and emotionally-charged subject in the school classroom.

Numerous activities in the field of Post Holocaust issues are carried out by our academic and non-governmental partners who form part of the British delegation to the International Task Force on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research.

The Government is particularly thankful for the work of the Holocaust Educational Trust, the Anne Frank Trust, the Holocaust Educational Development Programme at the Institute of Education, the Commission for Looted Art in Europe and the Association of Jewish Refugees, as well as a large number of other community charities and NGOs who are actively involved in this area.

Find out more.