IHRA Honorary Chairman Statement on Charlottesville
IHRA Honorary Chairman, Professor Yehuda Bauer, has issued the following statement: "The 'Unite the Right' rally which took place in Charlottesville last week, in which counter-protester Heather Heyer was murdered, not only leaves a stain on America but is also a timely reminder of the perpetual need to combat the twisted ideology of the far-right everywhere it appears. The Holocaust remains an event close enough in time that survivors can still bear witness to the horrors that engulfed the Jewish people and to the terrible suffering of the many millions of other victims of the Nazis. I...
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Statement on the historically unsupportable use of the terms “Polish Death Camps”
"In recognition of the Stockholm Declaration (2000) commitment to ‘uphold the terrible truth of the Holocaust’ (defined as the mass murder of Jewry by the Nazis and their allies) against denial and distortion, and in acknowledgement of the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis and their accomplices during World War II, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) wishes to state that it shares the Polish government’s opposition to the historically unsupportable use of the terms “Polish Death Camps” or “Polish Camps” to refer to the camps and sites of persecution and murder...
IHRA Honorary Chair Statement on President Trump's Holocaust Remembrance Day message
"As Honorary Chairman of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), with its 31 Member Countries and eleven Observer Countries, I was extremely surprised that in the statement issued on behalf of President Trump on International Holocaust Memorial Day (January 27), the Holocaust was interpreted in a deeply erroneous way, and no specific mention was made of Jews or of antisemitism, which motivated the Holocaust. All IHRA Member Countries, including the USA, one of the founders, are committed to the 2000 Stockholm Declaration which defines the Holocaust as the genocide of the...
Joint Statement with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights on Occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day
On the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Ambassador Mihnea Constantinescu, and the Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Mr Michael O'Flaherty, issue a joint statement on the importance of educating for the future through learning from the past. The rising tide of intolerance spreading across Europe demonstrates the vulnerability of human rights and the need to be ever vigilant in their protection. On the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January, the EU Agency for...
Statement of the IHRA Chair, Ambassador Mihnea Constantinescu, regarding the outcome of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg.
Following the conclusion on 9 December 2016 of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg, I would like to commend the efforts and the strong commitment of the German Chairmanship to promote the endorsement by OSCE of the working definition of antisemitism previously adopted by the IHRA. I am grateful to the German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Frank Walter Steinmeier, and his team for the continuous efforts in the last months to advance a consensus on this matter. I also praise the contribution to these efforts by Rabbi Andrew Baker, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chair-in...
IHRA Chair's Statement Regarding the Rabbi Tsirilson Synagogue and Magen David Yeshiva situated in Chisinau, Moldova
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is deeply concerned by the ongoing property dispute between the government of Moldova and the Jewish community of Moldova involving the Rabbi Tsirilson Synagogue and the Magen David Yeshiva. The IHRA feels strongly that the serious efforts being made by the Jewish community to restore these properties should be met with encouragement and support from the government. As Moldova demonstrated its commitment to issues of Holocaust education, research and remembrance by becoming an IHRA observer country in 2014 and by declaring 27 January the...
IHRA Chair's Statement Regarding Attack on Roma Community in Ukraine
The Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance strongly condemns the attack on the Roma Community in Loschchynivka, Ukraine. Media and NGO sources reported that following allegations on 27 August that the tragic murder of a 9-year old girl could be linked to a Romani man, villagers attacked the local Roma community. According to the media reports, following the damage suffered to their homes and property, the local Roma community was forced to flee and urgently needs to be rehoused. The Roma Community “voluntarily” agreed to permanently leave the village after discussions...
Joint Statement with OSCE ODIHR on Occasion of 2 August
ODIHR Director Link and IHRA Chair Constantinescu, on day to commemorate genocide against Roma and Sinti, say greater efforts needed to protect endangered memorial sites and ensure dignity of victims. WARSAW/ BUCHAREST, 2 August 2016 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Ambassador Mihnea Constantinescu, Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), called today for greater efforts to protect endangered memorial sites related to the Roma and Sinti genocide during World War II. Speaking on the occasion...
In Memory of Elie Wiesel
A message from the IHRA Chair on the passing of Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize for Peace Laureate and Holocaust survivor. "On behalf of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance I express my deepest sadness at the passing of the Nobel Prize for Peace laureate, Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, and send my heartfelt condolences to his family. Elie Wiesel will be remembered for the strong and vibrant messages which he sent to the next generations to make every possible effort to not forget the tragedy of the Holocaust and, above all, to act in solidarity so that such a tragedy will never...
IHRA Chair's Statement Regarding Planned Holocaust Denial Competition in Iran
IHRA Chair's Statement: It was with great concern and disappointment that I learned of an exposition of Holocaust denial cartoons in Teheran following a competition sponsored by two Iranian cultural organizations, as part of the Cartoon Biennale. It must remain clear that any attempt to claim that the Holocaust did not take place or to minimize or blur responsibility for the genocide is an attack on the memory of the victims and memory of the Holocaust. On behalf of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, I denounce this disgraceful competition and express my strong criticism that...