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Against Forgetting and For a New Way of Remembering the Holocaust; Secretariat of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research Opened in Berlin The newly established secretariat of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF) was opened in an official ceremony at the German Foreign Office in Berlin on Tuesday, March 11. Germany had successfully lobbied to bring the secretariat to Berlin on the initiative of Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Foreign Minister Steinmeier, in remarks at the ceremony, spoke out in favor of a new way of actively remembering the Holocaust. He also warned against new forms of anti-Semitism. "Anti-Semitism in Germany, even in some obscure dialectical guise, will not be tolerated," he said. Steinmeier thanked the ITF members for the trust they have demonstrated by choosing Berlin as the location for the secretariat. "For us, this trust means an obligation," he said. The German Government, he went on to say, wants to strengthen and further develop the remembrance of the murder of European Jews, which originated from Germany. International research and education initiatives of the ITF are to be supported and promoted. The Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research was established in 1998 on the initiative of the then Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson. Its aim is to achieve the broadest possible public support for education, remembrance and research on the Holocaust. It believes this is also a way to counter anti-Semitic tendencies. The ITF currently has 25 members and a rotating chair. Shared remembrance – German guilt Steinmeier called for remembrance not to be conducted along national lines. For "the bitter memory of past suffering is something we have in common." Particularly "by sharing remembrance with other nations, we are shouldering our undivided historic guilt." Remembrance of the recent past, of the "never again" of the post-war years, could provide a shared vanishing point in order to establish a moral identity. Given the moral principles it generates, such a culture of remembrance, could also lay claim to universality, Steinmeier said. However, remembrance should not be regarded as the passive contemplation of history. Rather, it should be conceived time and again in a new and contemporary way and shaped "in the midst of our community – that is what 'active remembrance' is all about." Vigilance against renewed anti-Semitism In view of Germany's special responsibility towards the State of Israel, to protect its existence and to defend its right to exist, Germany also has an obligation to fight anti-Semitism, both in Germany and worldwide. Steinmeier warned against both "highly resentful anti-Semitism" and "Islamist insinuations." Neither would be tolerated. "They not only poison the atmosphere in our society but they also undermine its very foundations," Steinmeier said. He again strongly condemned the attempts made by Iran's President Ahmadinejad at a "historians conference" in 2006 to air doubts about the circumstances surrounding the murder of European Jewry: "The intention was crystal clear: to play down the significance of the Holocaust and thus call into question Israel's right to existence." The special relations between Germany and Israel will also be underscored by the joint Cabinet meeting to be held in Israel next week. Working together with the Topography of Terror The secretariat will have its office on the Berlin premises of the Topography of Terror Foundation. It will be headed by Kathrin Meyer, who together with one colleague will conduct the ITF's regular affairs and process support projects. Germany is covering 50 percent of the secretariat's costs. Concrete projects in particular can foster practical remembrance in the participating countries. This includes, for example, film funding, exhibitions, as well as work with people who can further disseminate information and ideas. Some 180 projects were funded by the ITF between 2002 and 2006, all of which had to be co-financed by a third party. Andreas Nachama, head of the Topography of Terror Foundation, said that the fact that the secretariat would be based in Berlin, once the "center of evil," was a tribute to the new tolerance and enlightened attitudes in Germany. The documentation of the National Socialist era and its crimes is, Nachama stated, part of the intellectual foundations for a Europe without borders. Remembrance even without surviving witnesses Steinmeier reminded the audience that remembrance of the Holocaust has today entered a new and critical phase. "The survivors are departing the stage. They speak with a natural authority – but their voices are ever fainter." Everyone must meet the challenge of ensuring that in the future remembrance does not become something remote and abstract, obscured by the veil of history. Avner Shalev, Chairman of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, in Jerusalem, also said that the greatest challenge in the future would be to reach young people without the help of survivors. Creative ways would have to be found for this. Grappling with the Shoah required "very personal experiences" if "Holocaust fatigue" was to be prevented. March 12, 2008 Link
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