The Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust is the founding document of IHRA and it continues to serve as an ongoing affirmation of each IHRA member country’s commitment to shared principles.The Declaration was the outcome of the International Forum convened in Stockholm between 27-29 January 2000 and attended by the representatives of 46 governments.
- The Holocaust (Shoah) fundamentally challenged the foundations of civilization. The unprecedented character of the Holocaust will always hold universal meaning. After half a century, it remains an event close enough in time that survivors can still bear witness to the horrors that engulfed the Jewish people. The terrible suffering of the many millions of other victims of the Nazis has left an indelible scar across Europe as well.
- The magnitude of the Holocaust, planned and carried out by the Nazis, must be forever seared in our collective memory. The selfless sacrifices of those who defied the Nazis, and sometimes gave their own lives to protect or rescue the Holocaust's victims, must also be inscribed in our hearts. The depths of that horror, and the heights of their heroism, can be touchstones in our understanding of the human capacity for evil and for good.
- With humanity ...
In January 2020, 20 years since the founding document of IHRA, the Stockholm Declaration, had been adopted, IHRA Member Countries renewed their strong commitment to ensure the world remembers the Holocaust and to contribute to a world without genocide by adopting the IHRA 2020 Ministerial Declaration. It is meant to keep governments accountable to the promises made in it and guide IHRA’s work for years to come.
“As we mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of German Nazi concentration and extermination camps and other sites of persecution and murder, we, the High Governmental Representatives of the Member Countries of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) honor the victims and survivors of the Holocaust (Shoah) which engulfed the Jewish people. We honor, too, the victims and survivors of the genocide of the Roma and others who were persecuted. We promise to never forget those who resisted the Nazis and those who protected or rescued their persecuted fellow human beings. Today, the world still faces genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and continued threats to pluralistic, democratic and inclusive societies.
As we witness with sadness the passing of the survivor generation, we, the IHRA Member Countries:
- Reaffirm our ...