On Wednesday, 30 January 2019, at the House of the European History, we honored the memory of the victims of the Holocaust during the Nazi occupation.

 

The event was jointly organized by AJC Transatlantic Institute, the Mission of Israel to the EU and NATO, the German Mission to the EU, B’nai B’rith International, the European Office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the Central Welfare Board of Jews in Germany (ZWST), as well as Members of European Parliament Helga Trüpel, Heinz Becker and Terry Reintke.

 

The event was accompanied by an exhibit of anti-Semitic propaganda posters, collected by Holocaust survivor Arthur Langermann, visualizing past and still prevailing prejudices towards the Jewish community worldwide.

“Fighting anti-Semitism, in all its forms, is, and must remain, a joint task of the EU and the State of Israel. We owe it to the memory of the victims, to the lost generations and to the future of Europe” H.E. Aharon Leshno-Yaar, Ambassador of Israel to the EU and NATO, emphasized during this evening dedicated to the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

 

The event titled “Anti-Semitism, Past and Present” consisted of an interactive panel discussing past and present anti-Semitism. The panel members were the two best-selling authors, Deborah Feldman and Richard Schneider, moderated by Laura Cazes from ZWST. All panel members were in unison and concluded that countries need to work together in order to fight anti-Semitism.

 

In addition to the event hosted by the Israeli Embassy and its partners, Brussels have seen in the past few weeks several other events and ceremonies to commemorate the international day of Holocaust remembrance.

 

The European Parliament has marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day in an official ceremony, during a plenary session, MEPs has observed a minute of silence on January 30 to honor the memory of the victims.

 

On January 24-25, in partnership with the #WeRemember campaign promoted by the World Jewish Congress, tens of thousands of photographs were screened at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) in Brussels to raise awareness about the horrors of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism

 

The European Parliament, in partnership with the European Jewish Congress, hosted its annual International Holocaust Commemoration Day Ceremony on Wednesday, January 24th 2018.

 

On this important day, one must not just remember the horrible results of historical anti-Semitism, but act and fight against the new anti-Semitism. It is indeed important that European countries help to pay for the extra security around Jewish buildings and schools but it would be even more important to act so that there would be no need for such security. Remembrance Day for the Holocaust is not just a mourning day for the 6 million Jews and many others who were systematically murdered, but this day should be a warning sign and a call for action.