Prime Minister Gordon Brown has decorated Britons who saved Jews and others from the Nazi onslaught during World War II with the new ‘Hero of the Holocaust’ medal. read more »
Hungary’s National Assembly has voted in favor of making the denial or belittling of the Holocaust a criminal offense, punishable by up to three years imprisonment. read more »
» Should the denial of the Holocaust be punishable under the law? 
Russian PM Putin has told his Israeli counterpart Netanyahu that Russia would soon build a museum dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. Netanyahu in response said Israel would erect a memorial dedicated to the efforts of the Soviet Red Army in liberating Europe during World War II. read more »
Stockholm police have arrested the former Swedish neo-Nazi leader Anders Högström, who is wanted in Poland over the theft of the ‘Arbeit macht frei" sign from Auschwitz. read more »
» Should the denial of the Holocaust be punishable under the law?
A court in Germany has summoned the Catholic Bishop Richard Williamson to attend a trial in April where he is to face charges of incitement for his belittling of the Holocaust, which is a crime in Germany. read more »
» Bishop Williamson refuses to pay fine for Holocaust denial
» German court fines Bishop Williamson for Holocaust denial
» Should the denial of the Holocaust be punishable under the law?
» Swedish TV interview in which Bishop Williamson denies the Holocaust 
Around 2,000 Latvians who fought in the Nazi German ‘Waffen SS’ during World War II and their supporters have staged their annual march through the Latvian capital, Riga. read more »
Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, who last year praised Adolf Hitler for “being able to get things done”, has again made controversial statements on this subject. read more »
Germany's Federal Court of Justice has been asked to decide whether 4,500 pages of secret documents relating to the escape of Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the Holocaust, and his arrest in Argentina in 1960 should be declassified. read more »
A Stockholm court ruled that Anders Högström can be extradited to Poland over his suspected involvement in the theft of the ‘Arbeit macht frei’ sign from the former Auschwitz death camp. read more »
Hungary’s President Laszlo Solyom has signed into law a bill that makes the denial of the Holocaust punishable by up to three years in jail. read more »
The German government is increasing its funding for home care services provided to old-age Holocaust survivors by US$ 37 million this year. read more »
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has decorated Britons who saved Jews and others from the Nazi onslaught during World War II with the new ‘Hero of the Holocaust’ medal. read more »
Some scams rise above the merely outrageous to the profane. Such is plainly the case with Rabbi Menachem Youlus, the DC-area Torah scribe who claims to have "rescued" more than 1,000 Holocaust-era Torah scrolls. read more »
Turkey's foreign minister, has warned of a breakdown in ties with Washington after a committee of the US House of Representatives approved a resolution labeling the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians a “genocide.” read more »
The Munich trial of alleged Nazi death camp guard Ivan Demjanjuk will take months longer than had been anticipated, prosecutors said on Wednesday. read more »
The Polish government has ordered the municipality of Przemysl, in southeastern Poland, to return its ancient graveyard to the Jewish community. read more »
Hungary’s National Assembly has voted in favor of making the denial or belittling of the Holocaust a criminal offense, punishable by up to three years imprisonment. read more »
A delegation of the African Jewish Congress has visited the Jewish community in Nambia and also took part in commemorations of the massacres of Herero and San committed by German colonialists a century ago. read more »
Russian PM Putin has told his Israeli counterpart Netanyahu that Russia would soon build a museum dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. Netanyahu in response said Israel would erect a memorial dedicated to the efforts of the Soviet Red Army in liberating Europe during World War II. read more »
Stockholm police have arrested the former Swedish neo-Nazi leader Anders Högström, who is wanted in Poland over the theft of the ‘Arbeit macht frei" sign from Auschwitz. read more »
Heirs of Holocaust survivors have filed a lawsuit in Chicago against the Hungarian state railway company MAV over the latter’s alleged involvement in deporting Jews to the Nazi camps during World War II. read more »
The French ‘Nazi hunter’ Serge Klarsfeld has urged Muslims and Jews to learn about their mutual suffering as a way to bring them closer, at a series of conferences on the Shoah held in several Arab countries and Israel. read more »
The trial in Munich, Germany of Ivan Demjanjuk, 89, was adjourned for a second day running on Thursday after doctors said the defendant was feeling unwell. read more »
Critics question how historian ended up serving Shoah museum read more »
A court in the Polish city of Krakow has issued a European Union-wide arrest warrant for a Swedish citizen suspected of involvement in the theft of the ‘Arbeit macht frei’ sign at former Nazi death camp Auschwitz. read more »
More than sixty years after the end of the Holocaust, and nearly two decades after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Jewish communities in East Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union are still struggling with the question of how to reclaim the properties which were taken from them during the Nazi and Communist regimes. download »
Visitors entering the Terror Háza [House of Terror] in Budapest are immediately confronted with the political agenda of the public foundation that operates this popular museum - one of the most visited attractions in the Hungarian capital. download »
Vatican decree signed by Benedict XVI on the declaration of venerability 17 people, including Pius XII. The declaration of venerability starts the process of beatification of individuals. read more »
Reflections, from Bergen-Belsen to the White House by Menachem Z. Rosensaft read more »
Restitution
The WJC has led a number of restitution efforts over the past decades and was a founding member of the World Jewish Restitution Organisation (WJRO). However there are still some countries that have not yet adequately addressed the issue of property restitution.
Restitution and compensation are primarily about justice and not only about money. It is about honouring those who perished in the Shoah and helping those who survived unimaginable anguish in the Nazi death camps.
Negotiations should be conducted in the framework of the WJRO (which includes the Claims Conference and other international Jewish organizations) in coordination with the Israeli government and with the support of the US government and the European Union.
The distribution of any compensation monies should not be handled by the WJC. The
WJC does not seek any form of commission or gratification payments from Holocaust-era compensation or restitution agreements.
Funds destined for Holocaust survivors, or their heirs, should be transferred to them without delay.
Poland needs to urgently implement the law allowing for the return of confiscated properties, or alternatively for the payment of adequate compensation, to victims of the Holocaust or their heirs.
Bosnia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia should also engage in immediate negotiations to bring closure to this issue in the interests of all.
The German government and others need to ensure that poor survivors of the Shoah continue to have access to adequate medical and social services, and receive a decent pension.
Holocaust commemoration and education
Some countries do not adequately commemorate WWII- and Holocaust-related events. In many eastern European countries, Holocaust education is insufficient and/or inaccurate.
Initiatives by international organisations, governments, NGOs and private individuals to organise commemorative events on Holocaust related anniversaries are important and should be welcomed.
Political leaders and well-known personalities should be encouraged to participate in such events, as they serve as an important reminder for today’s generation.
Holocaust education should be included in every school curriculum, in all countries. Providing good education and information about the Holocaust becomes even more important as Shoah survivors will soon no longer be alive to tell their story.
Holocaust Denial
The denial or trivialization of the Holocaust is becoming increasingly fashionable.
Denial of the Holocaust is abhorrent. It denigrates the memory of those who suffered and died at the hands of the Nazis.
Denial of the Holocaust has become a political weapon by anti-Semites, especially in Europe. EU wide legislation bringing a unified approach to legal action against Holocaust deniers is imperative.
