International Holocaust Memorial Day Events in Finland, 2010
On 26 January the Finnish Society of Yad Vashem together with the Finnish National Board of Education organized a teacher's seminar with the title "Why teach the Holocaust at school?" Lectures were given by Project Manager Christer Mattsson from the Forum of Living History in Sweden and Vice Rector Daniel Weintraub from the Jewish School in Helsinki.
An academic seminar "New Coming of Anti-Semitism" was held on 27 January at the Finnish National Museum. Dr. Henrik Bachner from the University of Lund and Professor Karmela Liebkind from the University of Helsinki lectured about modern forms of Anti-Semitism in Finland, Sweden and Europe in general. The Finnish Society of Yad Vashem together with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs organized a commemoration event on 27 January 2010 at the National Museum. The event was attended by a considerable number of people who represented, inter alia, the Government, diplomatic corps, the academia, non-governmental organisations and the Jewish communities in Helsinki and Turku.
Several speeches were given during the evening and music performances were heard. With the lead of the Cantor of the Jewish Community of Helsinki, the audience stood up for "El male rachamim", prayer for the souls of the victims. Secretary of State Ritva Viljanen from the Ministry of the Interior said in her speech that victims of genocide are in our collective memory. We must remember because we do not want these horrors to reoccur in the future. We cannot let ourselves think that genocides are a thing of the past. Every generation must fight against indifference and ignorance as these often are factors behind discrimination and xenophobia. The Secretary of State believed that active work for the protection and promotion of human rights and democracy is the best way to honour the memory of those perished in the Holocaust. Member of the Swedish Parliament Agneta Berliner reminded that there is a fellow human being behind the statistics and incomprehensible numbers of the Holocaust; someone's mother, sister, brother or father. We can and should fight racism in our everyday life, she noted. We should also learn and draw strength from those that survived the horrors of the Shoa and listen to their stories. Project Manager Crister Mattsson from the Swedish Forum for Living History told a story of a little Jewish girl from the Warsaw Ghetto who perished in the Holocaust. The story of a 5-year-old girl who was forced to hide her true identity even in her deathbed left no one untouched. In the course of the evening speeches were also heard from the Chair of the Finnish Society of Yad Vashem as well as the Ambassadors of Israel and Poland resident in Helsinki, and the Ambassador of Human Rights and Democracy of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
