On January 27, 2023, Élisabeth Borne, the French Minister of Education, delivered poignant remarks at the Holocaust Memorial in Paris as the world remembered the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Borne emphasized the need for Holocaust education to be approached "without any censorship", framing schools as bastions against the fading memory of this dark chapter of history.
Reflecting on her own family's linked experiences, with her father having been deported to Auschwitz, Borne passionately declared, "The School must be a rampart of humanity against the forgetting of History and the trivialization of hatred." Her statements resonate not only with historical weight but also with the contemporary surge of antisemitism, which she warned is "proliferat[ing]" today, increasingly visible both on the Internet and within society.
During the annual ceremony marking the liberation of the Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau by Soviet troops on January 27, 1945, Borne remarked on the significance of the date as "a symbol of still vivid wounds, a universal wound." Echoing the sentiment of many present at the memorial, she stated, "For many of you present today, this History is also mine." The minister emphasized France's complicity during this horrific period, which saw the extermination of six million Jews.
“Eighty years after the tragedy, it remains as urgent, if not more urgent than ever, to remind ourselves of this History,” Borne insisted, presenting education as the key tool to combat misunderstanding and denying past atrocities.
Prior to Borne’s address, Eric de Rothschild, the president of the Holocaust Memorial, stressed the importance of remembering the Holocaust. He described the organized genocide under the Nazi regime as representing the shift of humanity to its most horrifying extremes. His words echoed through the hall, underlining the shared responsibility to forge humanity’s future based on remembrance and education.
Attendees included not only officials but also survivors whose personal stories encapsulate the need for continual remembrance. The stark images of survivors, many bearing the tattoos of their past, served as vivid reminders of the historical realities facing those who were affected by the Holocaust.
On the same commemorative day, President Emmanuel Macron also etched his commitment to the remembrance of the Holocaust, writing, "We will not yield anything to antisemitism." His pledge resonates with Borne's call for educational institutions to actively promote historical remembrance. Both leaders' statements reflect the national consensus on the fight against antisemitism, particularly amid recent advancements and challenges facing Jewish communities.
Following the commemoration, Borne visited various exhibits detailing the long history of Jewish civilization and the pernicious rise of antisemitism across Europe. Her engagement at the memorial encapsulated the dedication to ensuring similar atrocities do not reoccur.
With her powerful message urging education as the linchpin to remembrance and resistance, Élisabeth Borne called upon France to safeguard the legacies of the Holocaust - reminding society of the pervasive risks of forgetting history. “On this day to never forget, together with you to always remind, for such horrors should never be repeated,” she penned thoughtfully within the memorial's guestbook, reiterative of the solemn duty upon education to honor the past and guide the future.