April 2021 (v.1)

Main themes of the Presidency

  • Teaching and learning about the Holocaust: Education for a world with no more genocide.
  • Combating Holocaust denial and distortion on the internet.

Main Message

Greece and Greek Israelites, in particular, were among the hardest hit by the Nazi onslaught in Europe during World War II. The Holocaust and the appalling loss of life and suffering it entailed still haunt the Greeks’ collective memory to this day; to remember what was done and so that it should never be repeated, Greece has instituted special scholastic programmes, to teach the Holocaust to the younger generations. These have proved among the most successful in Europe, so that Greece is now drawing on this experience to prepare for her own Presidency of the IHRA for 2021-2022. Greece sees the Holocaust experience under a dynamic angle, as a warning and a lesson for the present and the future. Thus, she considers education to be a primary weapon in the fight against Holocaust denial and distortion, and even, as a means of self-defence for Democracies, against any resurgence of forces and self- professed “ideologies” seeking to undermine and attack our common human and moral values and, eventually, our freedom.

Ongoing projects that the Greek Presidency continues

  • The Greek Presidency supports the work of the Global Task Force Against Holocaust Distortion initiated by the previous German Presidency. More information
  • The Greek Presidency supports the enlargement of the IHRA.

Upcoming Events

  1. 8 April 2021: International Roma Conference 1971-2021. The Panhellenic Confederation of the Greek Roma ELLAN PASSE organizes the International Roma Conference 1971-2021 in order to celebrate half a century since the First World Roma Congress, held in 1971 in London, and also the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution of 1821. The Conference, for which we have already received the patronage of H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic Ms. Katerina Sakellaropoulou, will take place in three two-day sessions, to be held on April 8-9, June 20-21, and September 14-15, 2021.
  2. 12-13 and 19-20 April 2021: “The Holocaust as a starting point”. Dialogue between Greece, the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Bulgaria| Webinar for teachers organized by the Memorial de la Shoah and Ministries of Education of Greece, North Macedonia and Bulgaria.
  3. 25 April 2021: How the IHRA Recommendations for Teaching and Learning about the Holocaust Can Help You? Special Discussion for Educators from Greece, Israel and the United States. Organised by the Greek Ministry of Education, USHMM and Yad Vashem. (teleconference)
  4. 19 May 2021: Webinar “Practical implementation of the three Non-legally binding IHRA working definitions in multicultural societies: lessons learned, best practices, steps forward”, organized by North Macedonia, in cooperation with Austria and Greece.
  5. 24-25 May 2021: Seminar for Greek clergy in cooperation with the Academy of Theological Studies of Volos and Yad Vashem. Organized by the Secretariat for Religious Affairs of the Greek Ministry of Education and the Jewish Museum of Greece (teleconference).
  6. 31 May-10 June 2021: Athens Plenary (teleconference).
  7. September 2021: Presentation to the other IHRA member-states of the school video competition on the Holocaust. The competition is organized every year by the Ministry of Education and the Jewish Museum of Greece. Past winners of the competition will join in the presentation (exact date to be confirmed).
  8. Autumn 2021: Pilot seminar for Security Forces officers. Organized by the Secretariat for Religious Affairs of the Greek Ministry of Education in cooperation with the Ministry of Citizen Protection and the Jewish Museum of Greece (exact date to be confirmed).
  9. Autumn 2021: Educational theatrical programme on the Holocaust, organized by the Jewish Museum of Greece (exact date to be confirmed).
  10. Autumn 2021: Online discussion concerning historical and contemporary anti-Semitism, organized by the Jewish Museum of Greece (exact date to be confirmed).
  11. 8-11 November 2021: Thessaloniki Plenary.
  12. December 2021: Seminar for university students concerning the Holocaust, genocides and crimes against humanity and organized by the Secretariat for Religious Affairs of the Greek Ministry of Education, in cooperation with Memorial de la Shoah (France) (exact date to be confirmed).
  13. January 2022: Book presentation of the Greek edition of the book “Five Chimneys” by Olga Lengyel. Translation and printing of the book was effectuated by the Secretariat for Religious Affairs of the Greek Ministry of Education and the Jewish Museum of Greece (exact date to be confirmed).
  14. January 2022: Presentation of the digital products of the European Commission’s project HANNAH concerning racism and anti-Semitism, organized by the Jewish Museum of Greece (exact date to be confirmed).
  15. February-March 2022: Inauguration of the Greek Permanent Exhibition at the Auschwitz State Museum (exact date to be confirmed).
  16. February-March 2022: International Conference on combating Holocaust denial and distortion on the internet (exact dates to be confirmed).