International Conferences:

Terezin Declaration Conference

Events and Conferences
International Conferences

Terezín Declaration

List of States: 1. Albania; 2. Argentina; 3. Australia; 4. Austria; 5. Belarus; 6. Belgium; ;7. Bosnia and Herzegovina; 8. Brazil; 9. Bulgaria; 10. Canada; 11. Croatia; 12. Cyprus; 13. Czech Republic; 14. Denmark; 15. Estonia; 16. Finland; 17. France; 18. North Macedonia; 19. Germany; 20. Greece; 21. Hungary; 22. Ireland; 23. Israel; 24. Italy; 25. Latvia; 26. Lithuania; 27. Luxembourg; 28. Malta; 29. Moldova; 30. Montenegro; 31. The Netherlands; 32. Norway; 33. Poland; 34. Portugal; 35. Romania; 36. Russia; 37. Slovakia; 38. Slovenia; 39. Spain; 40. Sweden; 41. Switzerland; 42. Turkey; 43. Ukraine; 44. United Kingdom; 45. United States; 46. Uruguay; The Holy See (observer); 47. Serbia (observer) (later endorsed)

Full Text of Terezín Declaration (PDF, 83 KB)

Program of the International Terezín Declaration Conference

during the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU

Nov 2-4, 2022

The International Terezín Declaration Conference was opened in the Czernin Palace by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský. The three-day conference took place on November 2 - 4, 2022 and aimed to support the fight against antisemitism, highlighted the role of education and called for the solving of injustices from the time of the Holocaust. It also dealt with the situation of survivors of the war in Ukraine. The event took place with the participation of representatives from 47 signatory states as part of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavský called in his speech on the representatives of the signatory states of the Terezín Declaration to take the necessary steps to fulfill its obligations: "You are aware of the fact that throughout this year we´ve had to deal with critical issues like energy supplies and prices and security among others. However, we are convinced that even in these times we should firmly advocate human rights and pay close attention to other threats that endanger our way of life, including racism and antisemitism." In this context, the head of Czech diplomacy also drew attention to the effects of the war in Ukraine or the threat in the form of disinformation campaigns: "We are now facing armed conflict in Europe, which we thought that would have never happened again, and outbursts of racism and national and religious intolerance. If we do not want history to repeat itself we have to keep Holocaust memory alive and not let any room for disinformation or distortion” said Minister Lipavský.

The participants and guests could watch a video message from the US State Secretary Antony Blinken and they were also greeted by the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman and by the President of the State of Israel Isaac Herzog. The conference was organized by the Office of the Special Envoy for Holocaust, Interfaith Dialogue and Freedom of Religion or Belief of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

In addition to the main program of the conference the Experts Meeting was organized by the Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Jewish Literature, Department of Czech and Comparative Literature, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague. Participants and guests also had the opportunity to personally meet Holocaust survivors, listen to a concert by Terezín composers called Defiant Requiem, and visit the Ghetto Terezín. On the occasion of the conference a Youth Video Contest on the topic: “Why and How to Commemorate the Holocaust Today” was announced and selected young contestants from several countries of the world were invited to participate at the conference.

Full Program: Program_TerezinDeclarationConference (PDF, 852 KB)

Chair’s Closing Statement: Chair’s Closing Statement (PDF, 432 KB)

Wednesday Nov 2, 2022 – Experts Meeting & SECCA Meeting

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Thursday Nov 3, 2022 - International Conference

Exhibition of Illustrations from the Ghetto Terezín

1. Opening Speeches

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - Opening Speeches - YouTube

Jan Lipavský, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic

Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of State 

Secretary Blinken Remarks to Terezín Conference - YouTube

Meirav Cohen, Minister of Social Equality of the State of Israel

Věra Jourová, Vice President of the European Commission

Colette Avital, Chairperson of the Center Organizations of Holocaust Survivors

Dita Kraus, Holocaust survivor born in Prague, known as The Librarian of Auschwitz

Avraham Roet, Holocaust survivor introduced by Sharon Buenos, Global Director, Project Zikaron BaSalon זיכרון בסלון

Moderator: Robert Řehák, Special Envoy for Holocaust, Interfaith Dialogue and FoRB, Czech Republic

 

2.  From Terezín Declaration Conference in 2009 to Terezín Declaration Conference in 2022

International Terezín Declaration Conference - From 2009 to the Conference in 2022 - YouTube

Stuart E. Eizenstat, Chairman of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Council and Special Advisor on Holocaust Issues to the US Secretary of State

Stuart Eizenstat's Remarks (DOCX, 29 KB)

Ellen Germain, Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, U.S. Department of State

Chair: Nicolas de Torrenté, Special Envoy to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Switzerland

 

3. Parallel Sessions: Education & National Statements

3.1. Education, Countering Disinformation and Future Remembrance

International Terezín Declaration Conf. - Education, Countering Disinformation, Future Remembrance - YouTube

Claudia Roth, Minister of State for Culture and the Media and Member of the German Bundestag

Yehuda Bauer, Israeli Historian and Scholar of the Holocaust (online)

Annette Schavan, Foundation for Remembrance, Responsibility and Future, Former Minister of Education of Germany

Jan Roubínek, Director of Terezín Memorial

Yossi Gevir, Director of External & Governmental Affairs at Yad Vashem

Chair: Ann Bernes, President of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance

 

Special Presidential Message to the Terezín Declaration Conference Participants

Miloš Zeman, President of the Czech Republic 

Miloš Zeman, President of the Czech Republic (PDF, 406 KB)

Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel 

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - Video Message by President Isaac Herzog - YouTube

 

3.2. National Statements, Contributions and Voluntary Pledges 

Claudia Roth, Minister of State in the Chancellery, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Germany

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of Germany - YouTube

Karoline Edtstadler, Minister for Europe, Austria 

Internation Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - Video Message by Karoline Edtstadler - YouTube

Roberto Alejandro Salafia, Ambassador, Argentina

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of Argentina - YouTube

Jordan Parvanov, Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Czech Republic

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of Bulgaria - YouTube

Stéphane Dion, Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to the European Union and Europe, and Canada’s Ambassador to France and Monaco 

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of Canada - YouTube

Thomas Piana, Deputy Ambassador for Human Rights, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, France

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of France - YouTube

Tristan Azbej, State Secretary, Hungary

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of Hungary - YouTube

Jackie O’Halloran Bernstein, Director, Human Rights, Political Division, Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland

Internation Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of Ireland - YouTube

Meir Bing, Director General, Ministry of Social Equality, Israel

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of the State of Israel 2 - YouTube

Vitalie Rusu, Ambassador at Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of the Republic of Moldova - YouTube

Øystein, Lyngroth, Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief and head of IHRA delegation, Norway

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of Norway - YouTube

Alexandru Muraru, Envoy of the Government for Promoting Politics of Memory, Fighting Antisemitism and Xenophobia, Romania

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of Romania - YouTube

Lepša Štulić, Minister Counsellor at the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Prague, Serbia

International Terezín Declaration Conference - National Statement of the Republic of Serbia - YouTube

Simon Geissbühler, Assistant Secretary of State and Head, Peace and Human Rights Division, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of Switzerland - YouTube

Egemen Bağış, Ambassador of Türkiye to the Czech Republic, Türkiye

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of the Republic of Türkiye - YouTube

Rt Hon Lord Eric Pickles, Special Envoy for post-Holocaust Issues, United Kingdom

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of the United Kingdom - YouTube

Chair: Dan Haezrachy, Special Envoy for Holocaust Era Restitution, Israel 

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - National Statement of the State of Israel - YouTube

 

4. National Strategies to Combat Antisemitism and Online Hate Speech

International Terezín Declaration Conference - National Strategies to Combat Antisemitism - YouTube

Rabbi Andrew Baker, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism & American Jewish Committee

František Vrabel, Founder of Semantic Visions, a Prague-based analytics firm that collects and analyzes 90% of the world’s online news content

Stéphane Dion, Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to the European Union and Europe, and Canada’s Ambassador to France and Monaco

Irina Rosensaft, Digital Transformation Lead at the Central Welfare Board of Jews in Germany; Jewish Diplomatic Corps, World Jewish Congress

Chair: Katharina von Schnurbein, European Commission Coordinator on combatting Antisemitism

 

5. Tackling Injustices from the Time of the Holocaust - Immovable Property and Looted Art

International Terezín Declaration Conference - Tackling Injustices from the Time of the Holocaust - YouTube

Hannah Lessing, Austrian National Fund

David Zivie, Head of Mission for Research and Restitution of Looted Cultural Property 1933-1945, French Ministry of Culture

Anne Webber, Co-Chair of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe

Wesley Fisher, Director of Research, Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany

Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff, former Austrian Ambassador in Prague

Chair: Rt Hon Lord Eric Pickles, United Kingdom Special Envoy for post-Holocaust Issues

 

6. Social welfare of the Holocaust Survivors and Helping to the Holocaust Survivors in Ukraine

International Terezín Declaration Conference, Prague - Social welfare of the Holocaust Survivors - YouTube

Greg Schneider, Executive VP of the Claims Conference

Maya Cimeša Samokovlija, Executive Director of Community Relations, World Jewish Congress

Chair: Mark Weitzman, COO WJRO, Former Chair of IHRA Antisemitism Committee 

 

7. Presentation of the Conference Outputs and of the International Youth Video Contest

Presentation of the winning videos of the International Video Contest: "Why and How to Commemorate the Holocaust Today?"

Tomáš Burak and Ondřej Gajdoš (Czech Republic)

Shivering Hands (2022) - YouTube

Agáta Kobrová, Adam Karel Roubal and Jan Jesus Tolar (Czech Republic)

Střípky - YouTube

Nataliia Lira (Ukraine) and Lydia Tischler (United Kingdom)

BY SOME MIRACLE WE MANAGED TO FIND EACH OTHER - YouTube

Kolby Sasser (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

“People.” SHORT FILM #terezindeclaration - YouTube

Benjamin Schreiber (Canada)

Terezin Declaration Film - How Can We Prevent Future Genocides? - YouTube

 

End of Session

 

Defiant Requiem Concert: Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezín Composer

Opening speech:

Stuart E. Eizenstat, Chairman of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Council and Special Advisor on Holocaust Issues to the US Secretary of State

Anna Azari, Ambassador of Israel to the Czech Republic

Tomáš Pojar, Advisor for Foreign and Security Policy to the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic

Hours of Freedom is a stirring multimedia concert-drama featuring music by composers imprisoned in the Theresienstadt (Terezín) Concentration Camp during WWII. Presented as nine chapters with titles including, “Hope”, “Fate”, “Longing” and “The Eyewitness” this concert combines music, video, and narrative to highlight works by Viktor Ullmann, Gideon Klein, Pavel Haas, Rudolf Karel, and others. The compositions performed portray the agony and suffering of camp life, along with the inspiration, revelation, harmony, and hope that comes through music.

Created & written by Murry Sidlin

Presented by The Defiant Requiem Foundation

 

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Friday Nov 4, 2022 – Tour to Terezín

Guided Visit of the Ghetto Terezín 

 

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Detailed Program of the Experts Meeting

Wednesday Nov 2, 2022 

(Trauttmansdorff Palace)

 

Experts Meeting - Terezín Declaration Conference

Experts Meeting is held under the honorary auspices of the Charles University Rector Prof. MUDr. Milena Králíčková, Ph.D and organized by the Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Jewish Literature, Department of Czech and Comparative Literature, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague.

 

Opening Speech

Prof. MUDr. Milena Králíčková, Ph.D, Rector of the Charles University in Prague

PhDr. Milan Žonca, Ph.D., Vice-Dean for International Relations

Libuše Heczková, Director of the Department of Czech and Comparative Literature, Faculty of Arts, Charles University

 

Key Speakers

Julius H. Schoeps, Founding Director of The Moses Mendelssohn Center for European Jewish studies, University of Potsdam: The Deportation of my Grandparents Käthe and Julius Schoeps from Berlin to Theresienstadt

Mag. Natascha Drubek-Meyer, Ph.D, The School of Slavonic and East, European Studies (SSEES), University College London: Five Reasons Why the Film Made in The Ghetto Theresienstadt Matters Today

Chair: ThDr. Petr J. Vinš, Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Jewish Literature, Faculty of Arts, Charles University

 

Parallel Sessions:

Session A: Terezín after Three-quarters of a Century

Jiří Sozanský, PhDr. Jan Roubínek, B.A. (Terezín Memorial): Jiří Sozanský’s Terezín Ghetto as Inspiration

Prof. Jiří Holý, Department of Czech and Comparative Literature, Faculty of Arts, Charles University: Czech and German-Language Literature in Terezín

Chair: Mag. Petr Brod, M.A.

 

Presentations by Students of the Faculty of Arts

Šárka Sladovníková: Ghetto Theresienstadt in Czechoslovak and Czech Feature Film

Hana Nichtburgerová, M.A.: Richard Glazar in Terezín and in Treblinka

Tereza Málková: Girl᾿s Magazine Bonaco in Terezín

 

Session B: Reflecting upon the Holocaust

Prof. Joanna Dyduch, PhD., Institute of the Middle and Far East, Jagiellonian University, Kraków: Holocaust memory in contemporary Poland: Developments, disputes, and controversies

Avraham Weber, University of Marburg, Current changes in Holocaust research and its effects on international litigation

Dr. Olaf Glöckner, Moses Mendelssohn Center for European Jewish Studies, University of Potsdam: Between silent commemoration and "yolocaust": Debates on handling the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin

PhDr. et Mgr. Marcela Menachem Zoufalá, Ph.D., Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Jewish Literature, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague:

Joint-Reading of the names of Jewish and Romani Holocaust victims on Yom HaShoah: Contemporary polemic in the Czech Republic

PhDr. Zbyněk Tarant, Ph.D, Department of Middle East Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of West Bohemia, Plzeň: Holocaust appropriation during Covid-19 - A new challenge to the Holocaust memory?

Mgr. Jiří Smlsal, Institute of Economic and Social History, Faculty of Arts, Charles University: Confiscations of Romani property during the Holocaust

Chair: Mgr. Jan Fingerland, Czech Radio

Discussant: Matthias Weller, The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn

 

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Contact Details

Office of the Special Envoy for  Holocaust, Interfaith Dialogue and Freedom of Religion
Ms. Petra Kaplanová,
Coordinator and Administrative Support
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Trauttmansdorff Palace
Loretánská Str. 6,
118 00 Praha 1
E-mail: da@mzv.cz
Tel.: +420 224 183 252

More info: https://www.mzv.cz/terezindeclaration

 

Robert Řehák, Ph.D.,
Special Envoy for Holocaust, Interfaith Dialogue and Freedom of Religion
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic
Trauttmansdorff Palace
Loretánská Str. 6,
1118 00 Praha 1
E-mail: robert_rehak@mzv.cz
Tel.: +420 224 183 253

 

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Holocaust Era Assets Conference in Prague, June 26-30, 2009

Conference Proceedings

Publication Holocaust Era Assets (PDF, 7 MB)

Photogallery
http://www.eu2009.cz/en/media-service/photo-gallery/first-day-of-holocaust-era-assets-conference-25796/

http://www.eu2009.cz/en/media-service/photo-gallery/second-day-of-holocaust-era-assets-conference-25909/
http://www.eu2009.cz/en/media-service/photo-gallery/second-day-of-holocaust-era-assets-conference---reception-26138/
http://www.eu2009.cz/en/media-service/photo-gallery/third-day-of-holocaust-era-assets-conference-26323/
http://www.eu2009.cz/en/media-service/photo-gallery/third-day-of-holocaust-era-assets-conference---reception-26450/
http://www.eu2009.cz/en/media-service/photo-gallery/fourth-day-of-holocaust-era-assets-conference-26539/
http://www.eu2009.cz/en/media-service/photo-gallery/fifth-day-of-holocaust-era-conference--26659/

More info
http://holocausteraassets.eu/
 
Important decisions in connection with the Terezín Declaration Conference - Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (JUST) Act Report
https://www.state.gov/reports/just-act-report-to-congress/
A PDF of the State Department webpage listed above is here. The report is here
 
Pledges presented at the Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, October 13, 2021
 https://www.government.se/4ad3b7/contentassets/7d3985b4106c41e69d699719533f16c0/outcome-document---pledges-presented-at-the-malmo-international-forum-on-holocaust-remembrance-and-combating-antisemitism.pdf
 
EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life (2021-2030)
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2021:615:FIN&pk_campaign=doc&pk_source=EUR-Lex&pk_medium=tw&pk_keyword=No2Antisemitism

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

Source:
https://www.mzv.cz/terezindeclaration accessed 14 December 2022

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