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Governments want to better facilitate Holocaust research amid rise of antisemitism in Europe

The European Holocaust Research Infrastructure, which until now has existed as a series of projects to facilitate research into the Holocaust committed in the 1930s and 40s, is being driven to become a permanent infrastructure. 

On 30 July, the EHRI said the Dutch government had written to the European Commission asking it for permission for the EHRI to become a European Research Infrastructure Consortium based in the Netherlands, with the backing of 10 other countries. Erics are EU legal entities that gain benefits from securing the status, including tax breaks.

“This transformation is an initiative of the many research institutions, archives and museums worldwide that have participated in EHRI projects since 2010,” the EHRI said. 

It added that the “first participating countries of the new international Holocaust Research Infrastructure” are expected to include Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and the UK.

These countries would provide funding for the infrastructure, whose central office would be hosted in the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam, which maintains archives and carries out studies into the Second World War. The other participating countries would create national nodes.

Building on existing work

The EHRI said the aim is to launch the new infrastructure in January, on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camp at Auschwitz (pictured) where the Nazis carried out many of their murders.

“After the launch, [we] will be able to continue many of [our] current activities, building on the previous European projects,” the EHRI said. 

“In these projects, the participating research institutions have already developed a solid foundation for transnational online Holocaust research and training facilities.

“These resources, such as the EHRI Portal that offers access to information on Holocaust-related archival material held in institutions across Europe and beyond, will now be consolidated. Furthermore, EHRI in its new organisational form will be able to expand and improve its support for transnational Holocaust research.”

Rise in antisemitism

The Dutch minister of science, Eppo Bruins, suggested that one of the main reasons for making the move now was a rise in antisemitism across Europe. 

“We are seeing an increase in the number of antisemitic incidents across Europe. I find this unacceptable and a major concern,” he said. 

“The EHRI collects public information about the Holocaust, making it more accessible to researchers and other interested parties. This is important because more knowledge and research of our past is of great importance for combating antisemitism in society.”

Days after the announcement, the EU institutions published statements for the European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day, which they began commemorating in 2015 in memory of the 500,000 Roma people murdered in the Holocaust.

Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, vice-president for values Věra Jourová and commissioner for equality Helena Dalli issued a joint statement saying: “It is our duty to make sure their story is not forgotten and to honour their legacy by fighting for justice and equality for all racialised minority groups.”