Stockholm, 7 May 1998
Summary of the Meeting of the Working Group of the Task Force, 7 May, 1998, in Stockholm
The evil that is the Holocaust constitutes a fundamental challenge to our ability to learn lessons from the past. Remaining indifferent and not trying to understand the "why" of the Holocaust could threaten our common future.
It is thus always the responsibility of parents, teachers, politicians, and all adults to teach our children that the right choice exists equal to the wrong one. To accomplish this task in a complex world, people and countries need to share experiences.
International cooperation should be directed toward highlighting the Holocaust and making an inventory of those aspects that merely have been touched upon and those that have been neglected. Joint international actions and projects should aim at longterm changes and effects of attitudes. Knowledge about the Holocaust should be woven into existing structures, for example, the educational system, research, and training of teachers and journalists. Preserving the narratives of Holocaust survivors is a key issue since the time left to document the memories is running out.
Young people are a key group, likewise their parents. In fact, it was an opinion poll revealing young people's lack of historical knowledge that gave rise to the Swedish project. One way to influence young people is to organise and give support to visits to the concentration camps. Another suitable area for cooperation is the use of the Internet as an instrument for spreading information about the Holocaust. This would include discussions of the most effective ways to utilise this channel, and how to deal with the proliferation of Nazi and racist material on the Internet.
Further training for teachers and expanded research are two suitable areas for international efforts. By giving the key figures in the education of children and young people that is to say, the teachers a sound grounding, knowledge about the Holocaust will spread like rings on the water.
Cooperation might also entail support for the compilation and production of information as well as various types of cultural events.
Conclusion
At the Stockholm meeting on the Holocaust, it was decided by participating representatives of the British, Swedish, and US. Governments to establish a task force for international cooperation to spread knowledge about the Holocaust. The group should consist of personal representatives to the heads of state or governments. Professor Yehuda Bauer of the Yad Vashem Institute will work as an independent advisor to the group.
The group has agreed to follow up on issues and projects discussed and proposed at the Stockholm meeting. It will collaborate closely with NGOs and others active in disseminating knowledge about the Holocaust.
It was agreed that the group will have a meeting in Washington in September this year in order to present progress reports on the projects listed below. It was agreed upon to elaborate an action-oriented report to be presented by high representatives of the heads of state or governments to the Washington Conference on HolocaustEra Assets on November 9,1998.
The Swedish representative is willing to act as coordinator until the first meeting in Washington in September 1998.
It was agreed upon to focus international cooperation on Holocaust educational activities, public activities, testimonies of survivors, proper ways to reach out to young people, a Global survey on Holocaust education to be presented in national reports, and cooperation on how to use the Internet in connection with these activities.