Strengthening the remembrance of the Holocaust against Jewish people.

From the Commission's own budget table for this call. Confirm against the topic page before you plan around it: these move when a work programme is amended.

Objective: 2. CERV-2026-CITIZENS-REM-HOLOCAUSTJEW - Strengthening the remembrance of the Holocaust against Jewish people. The Shoah is a defining legacy for the EU. Six million Jewish children, women and men were murdered, and all others were persecuted. While other groups were persecuted, the Nazis have set up across Europe and beyond a state policy with the sole aim to kill every single Jews they could find. First-hand accounts of the Shoah continue to have the most powerful impact on following generations. As there are less and less survivors to share the story of their survival, the importance of memorial sites and education increases, as well as the work done by second and third generations of survivors and associations. Current events show the instrumentalization of the Holocaust by Kremlin propaganda claiming to denazify Ukraine. In parallel, there is also an increasing politicization of the Holocaust in several EU Member States, and a tendency to minimize the atrocities of the Shoah. In addition, since the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas and the wars that ensued, we have seen a growing conflation of the Shoah with the conflicts in the Middle East. Citizens should be empowered to counter this conflation. Holocaust distortion fuels antisemitism. In addition, hate speech relating to the condoning, denial or gross trivialisation of the Holocaust is criminalised under the Council Framework Decision on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law 4 . Wounds of mass atrocities of the 20th century are still open today, fuelling divergences among Europeans. Free, open and independent research, education and memory on all aspects of the Shoah is essential to increase understanding. This implies exploring Europe’s negative history with the aim to reconcile divergent regional and national narratives related to the Shoah and its immediate aftermath. European citizens should become ambassadors of this memory. Teachers, policymakers, university students (especially history students) could be among key target audiences and be empowered to develop a common European history, to counter historical falsification, distortion and inversion. Target groups could include local public authorities and policy makers, to raise awareness about their responsibility to safeguard the sites and combat antisemitism. Target groups could include newcomers and migrants that do not have a direct link with the Shoah. Target groups could also include journalists, to raise awareness about Holocaust distortion, Holocaust inversion and Holocaust…