(Brussels, January 27, 2025) – On International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2025, marking 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the European Jewish Congress, representing 42 national Jewish communities across the continent, issues the following declaration:
1. The Shoah, the systematic and deliberate mission of the Nazis and their collaborators to annihilate the Jewish people, resulted in the murder of six million Jews between 1939 and 1945. This unparalleled atrocity in world history must never be trivialised, contextualised, or compared, as such acts perpetuate the suffering of its victims and their descendants.
2. We bow our heads in memory of our brothers and sisters who perished in the gas chambers, concentration camps, and mass shootings across Europe. We honour the last survivors, whose steadfast presence among us defies the intentions of those who sought to destroy us and ensures the enduring testimony of the Shoah.
3. Even 80 years later, the world Jewish population has not recovered to its pre-1939 levels. Such was the intense devastation wrought upon Jewish communities, which obliterated half of Europe’s Jews and a third of the global Jewish population.
4. We express our profound concern that antisemitism, often thinly veiled as anti-Zionism, has become normalised in Europe today. Acts of antisemitism on the continent have more than doubled since October 7, 2023, itself the bloodiest pogrom against the Jewish people since the Shoah.
5. European Jewish citizens continue to feel unsafe—on the streets, in their homes, across university campuses, in synagogues, Jewish schools, and community institutions.
6. We are alarmed by the normalisation of Holocaust denial, the rise of political extremism and Islamism, and the support for terrorist organisations in Europe. These trends threaten democratic and human values and undermine societal cohesion. The Europe we know today was built on the ashes of the Holocaust, as leaders pledged to cooperate for peace and vowed never to repeat the horrors that led to the systematic destruction of Jewish life, culture, and traditions.
7. We commend the European institutions for their achievements in preserving the memory of the Shoah and combating antisemitism. We welcome the statement issued today by the European Council on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which highlights the unprecedented rise of antisemitism in Europe and condemns it in the strongest terms. We urge all EU member states to fully implement the measures outlined in the EU Strategy on Combating Antisemitism and their respective national strategies, ensuring robust support for Jewish communities.
8. Despite being diminished, European Jewish communities remain resilient and determined to preserve their heritage and identity for future generations. We pledge to strengthen Jewish life in Europe, continue to fight antisemitism, and contribute to the promotion of European values of tolerance, democracy, and human rights.
9. However, this resilience is being severely tested by the explosion of antisemitic hatred following the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Instead of compassion, Jews and the State of Israel are met with vilification and baseless accusations.
10. The flourishing and security of Jewish life—in Europe, in Israel, and across the world—constitute the ultimate posthumous victory over the Nazis and their genocidal ideals. On this International Holocaust Remembrance Day, our commitment to sustaining Jewish life is more resolute than ever.
