Human rights activists demand from the Ministry of Education to return Holocaust Memorial Day to textbooks

In 2021, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, from the list of events telling Russian schoolchildren about the tragedies of the Second World War, crossed out the date that testifies to the crimes of fascism against peace, security and humanity - the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust / Burnt Offerings.

This date is historically timed to January 27, 1945, the day when the soldiers of the Soviet Army liberated the prisoners of the Auschwitz death camp. In many countries of the world, the erasure of the historical memory of the Holocaust is regarded as a direct or indirect justification of the atrocities of fascism, contributing to the formation of extremist attitudes among adolescents and young people. Therefore, it is no coincidence that at the International Conference on Countering Xenophobia, Anti-Semitism and Racism "Defend the Future" held in Moscow in November this year, serious concern was expressed about the policy of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation in relation to the memory of more than six million victims of the Holocaust.

We hope that the strange dropout from school curricula of such a tragic symbol of dehumanization and genocide as the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust is an accident. We believe it is imperative that this apparent misunderstanding be eliminated as soon as possible and that the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust be immediately reinstated in school curricula and education.

Chairman of the Commission Nikolay Svanidze,

November 29, 2021