The Swedish government has decided to appoint a special investigator that will map out obstacles and opportunities for Jewish life in Sweden and make proposals for a national strategy to strengthen Jewish life.
According to Minister of Culture Jeanette Gustafsdotter, “no one should hesitate to live out their identity and tell others about it. We must ensure that Jews can and dare to live a Jewish life, both now and in the future”.
The investigator will examine the conditions for Jewish life today and present proposals to ensure its survival and development. The focus will be on the transmission of Jewish culture and Yiddish to younger and future generations.
The work will be carried out in close dialogue and collaboration with the Jewish community in Sweden and will be reported by 15 December 2023.
The investigator shall, among other things:
– Describe the conditions for living a Jewish life in Sweden based on Sweden’s international commitments to the protection of national minorities and minority languages.
– identify the main obstacles and opportunities for the Jewish minority to live a Jewish life, propose measures aimed at strengthening the conditions for Jewish life in Sweden.
– propose a comprehensive strategy to ensure the survival and development of Jewish life in Sweden, based on Sweden’s international commitments to the protection of national minorities and minority languages
– make proposals on how the strategy should be followed up and which actor should be responsible.
The study is part of Sweden’s commitments following the Malmö International Forum for Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism.
The government has presented several initiatives to safeguard the rights of Sweden’s five national minorities, including in the areas of language, culture and influence.
These include a historic investment in minority policy, with an increase of SEK 90 million per year for three years, such as a comprehensive action programme for the preservation and promotion of the national minority languages.
