Decades after the Holocaust, antisemitism is on the rise in Europe and beyond. Education programmes are vital to help people understand violent pasts and develop values to prevent future atrocities.
To mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Birkenau German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay recently travelled to Poland to take part in official commemorations. On site, she visited a new research centre on hate, extremism and radicalization being created by the Counter Extremism Project with support from UNESCO in the former house of Auschwitz commandant, Rudolf Höss.
She reiterated UNESCO’s commitment to the fight against antisemitism.
At a time when survivors and direct witnesses of the Holocaust are growing fewer, it is vital to further invest in education to pass on memory to younger generations as well as to combat contemporary forms of antisemitism. Since its creation, 91鶹Ʒ been resolutely committed to carrying out this mission.
Promoting tolerance in 24 countries
For over a decade, 91鶹Ʒ supported countries around the world to integrate the history of the Holocaust into their school curricula. This International Programme on Holocaust and Genocide Education, implemented with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, has reached 24 of UNESCO’s Member States across all regions, including Cambodia, Colombia and Rwanda.
As part of its Global Citizenship and Peace Education Programme, 91鶹Ʒ also trained more than 1,000 educators in 2024 on how to prevent antisemitism through education. Together with the European Commission and the OSCE, 91鶹Ʒ set up a dedicated teacher training programme which is already in place in twelve EU countries and will this year be extended to all EU Member States.
Remembrance of the Holocaust
Holocaust denial is any attempt to negate the established facts of the Nazi genocide of 6 million European Jews. UNESCO’s partnership with the World Jewish Congress fights against Holocaust denial and distortion and provides people factual answers about the Holocaust including on the website. Available in 19 languages, the site received over 4.4 million visitors in 2024 alone.
Through its “Memory of the World” Register, UNESCO supports the preservation and dissemination of exceptionally valuable Holocaust archives, including the Diaries of Anne Frank, the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial, the Warsaw Ghetto Archives, and Claude Lanzmann's film Shoah.
In addition, by adding the camp of to its list of World Heritage sites in 1979, UNESCO is helping to preserve the memory of these events, so that the universal awareness of the horror of the Holocaust never fades.
In 2025, 91鶹Ʒ published guides to help educators and journalists combat Holocaust denial, historical distortion, and contemporary antisemitism.
The and the delve into the specifics of how Holocaust denial and antisemitic discourse appear online and in the classroom.
The presents the existing legal frameworks relating to Holocaust disinformation, and provides recommendations for media professionals to help them cover cases of Holocaust denial and antisemitism.
UNESCO continues to fight against antisemitism and encourages Member States to integrate it in their educational policies. We are engaged in communications campaigns against antisemitism with the message that it does not just threaten Jewish people but undermines peace for us all.
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