Toespraak bij symposium Toekomst Herinnering aan de Holocaust in musea en herinneringsinstellingen

Toespraak | 22-03-2024

Ladies and gentlemen, 
thank you. I’m honoured to be here, and particularly pleased to see representatives of the Jewish Cultural Quarter, Westerbork and the Auschwitz committee, and a warm welcome our Polish guest dr. Cywiński.

We have just witnessed the appointment of Marc as an Honorary Consul of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. Only two honorary consuls have been appointed so far. I am pleased and proud that Marc will take up such a significant role. As it marks the importance of collaboration between Poland and the Netherlands in keeping the history of the Holocaust alive. 

Marc, I will get back to you shortly. First, allow me to say a few words on why we are here today.
 

It’s been 85 years since the start of the Second World War. 

Nearly none of us were around when the Nazi Party was founded in Germany in 1920.

Nearly none of us were around when whole groups of people – including Jews, Roma and Sinti, and Jehovah’s Witnesses – were slowly but surely excluded from society.

And nearly none of us were around when Hitler declared himself Führer of the German Reich in 1934.

But we do know this history. We have to know this history. We, the Poles, the Dutch, and everyone else in Europe and the rest of the world. 

We heard it from our parents, our grandparents, our teachers at school. We heard it from those who witnessed the rise of Nazi Germany and the atrocities that took place. 
 

And now, with so few survivors left, their stories are fading from living memory. 

We need to make sure their experiences do not disappear with them.

We owe it to the millions of people who lost their lives in the Holocaust.

We owe it to their relatives, who still live with the painful consequences of their family’s history today.

And we owe it to ourselves, because we can only understand the present if we understand the past.

This year we start celebrating eighty years of freedom in the Netherlands.

Eighty years in which we’ve grown to take our freedom for granted.

 
Yet, there are signs of great concern.

A recent survey carried out by the Anne Frank Foundation shows that 14 per cent of secondary school teachers have reported encountering Holocaust denial or downplaying of its magnitude. 42 per cent of teachers have witnessed antisemitic incidents in the classroom. 

Everywhere in society there are signs that racism and antisemitism are on the rise.

Intolerance is growing. More and more we’re focusing on our individual lives instead of on our contribution to society. 

Today’s policies about the remembrance are in my opinion important and maybe more important than the years before. We have more reason than ever. The holocaust denial will be abolished in our society.

 
If you ask me what would help, I’d say the first step is to speak up whenever discrimination, antisemitism or any kind of intolerance is in our classroom. 

And we should teach our children to do the same. As parents, but also in schools.

I believe learning from the Holocaust will make younger generations more alert to the issues we face today. 

Issues like racism and antisemitism, but also to the importance of democracy and the rule of law. 

Historical events take place in a specific context. The Holocaust didn’t take place overnight. 

It was the result of a series of decisions, influenced by many different circumstances: political, economic, societal.
 

The Holocaust also illustrates just how fragile freedom can be, and how an entire group of people can be excluded from society, step by step.

That’s why in recent decades the Dutch government has put a lot of effort into keeping the memory alive. And has given financial support to memorial sites, commemorative events, as well as museums and institutions. 

But cooperation is key. The Holocaust was transnational. The memorial centres in Westerbork and Vught do not exist separately from Auschwitz-Birkenau and Sobibór. 

So we – Poland and The Netherlands - should work together. Our governments, our museums, our memorial centres and our educational institutions. 

Which brings me to Marc.

 
Marc, your focus on increasing teachers' and students' historical awareness and knowledge of the Holocaust in the Netherlands is of great importance. And I feel your appointment as Honorary Consul of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum today, is an important next step.

It presents us with the opportunity to further strengthen Holocaust education together, by working together. A lot is already been happening. We can continue to build on this. And I hope that – as an honorary consul - you can give it an extra boost. I’m very interested in hearing the upcoming plans. 

So Marc, congratulations on your appointment, thank you for your efforts and keep up the good work. And please, keep me posted.