Ei-iE

In an emotional gesture of solidarity and reconciliation, the leaders of teacher unions from Poland, Israel and Germany have visited Auschwitz together to pay their respects to the victims of the Holocaust.

It was a cold and snowy day in Auschwitz on 27 January, the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, when the trade union representatives gathered in the remains of the extermination camp to observe the event. They were: Yossi Wassermann of the Histadrud Hamorim in Israel, Ulrich Thöne of the GEW in Germany, Stefan Kubowicz of the NSZZ in Poland, and Slawomir Broniarz of the ZNP, also from Poland. "Never Again" was written on the wreath of yellow roses that the union presidents laid at the "death wall" of the extermination camp to honour the victims of the Holocaust. During the Second World War, more than one million Jews were exterminated in the crematoria of Auschwitz.

By coming together in Auschwitz on this day, the union leaders and their delegations expressed their strong rejection of all kinds of anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia. The day before, members of the four delegations held a symposium in Krakow, where they discussed their experiences and good practices in teaching about the Holocaust.

In a joint declaration signed by the presidents of the four unions, they underlined their particular responsibility as educators and trade unionists to foster respect for humanity, civil awareness and peace and harmony among the younger generations.

EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen said the event pointed to the important role that teachers and their unions can play in terms of providing role models of peaceful outreach. "In many post-conflict societies, the teachers are working with parents and school communities to help heal the wounds and bring people together once again," van Leeuwen said. "We firmly believe that it is our job to teach for peace and mutual understanding, so that our students learn the lessons of history and our societies don't repeat past mistakes."

Below is the full text of the declaration in English:

International Day of Commemoration to honour Holocaust victims 2008 Joint Symposium and Commemoration of the Teachers’ and Education Unions of Israel (ITU), Poland (NSZZ Solidarnoÿÿ and ZNP) and Germany (GEW) Kraków – Oÿwiÿcim, 26/27 January 2008 Joint Declaration

On the occasion of the International Day of Commemoration to honour the victims of the Holocaust delegations of Teachers' and Education Unions of Israel (Histadrut Hamorim), Poland (NSZZ Solidarnoÿÿ and ZNP) and Germany (GEW) convened for a joint commemoration on 27 January 2008 at the former Auschwitz extermination camp. The day before they held an international symposium in Kraków to debate recent developments of anti-semitism, racism and xenophobia and to exchange information and experiences of their struggle for tolerance. With these activities the unions want to send a clear and visible message showing their national and international commitment to foster education for tolerance, the respect for other human beings, non-violent conflict resolution and the living together of people and nations in peace - disregarding any differences of religious or ethnic origins.

As heads of their delegations the four presidents expressed in a public statement:

"The Holocaust victims oblige us to do everything that is in our power,

• to prevent such atrocities against mankind in the future
• to condemn any kind of violence, terror and war and any forms of genocide
• to reject and punish any denial of the Holocaust as historical event either in full or in part
• to denounce any manifestations of anti-semitism, racism and xenophobia and any discrimination of minorities and to fight them whenever occuring
• to empower and encourage people - individually as well as in communities and nations - to live together in a sense of tolerance, mutual respect and the acceptance of people with different ethnic or religious background
• to contribute in developing an understanding that differences in traditions and cultures must be considered and acknowledged as an enrichment – diversity as a chance.

As unionists and at the same time professional educators we are facing a particular responsibility to foster young people and the next generations in committing themselves to humanity, civil awareness and living together in peace – by also confronting them adequately with the Holocaust and its remembrance. We, therefore, welcome every specific pedagogical activity and initiative in this respect implemented by members of our unions on national as well as on international level, not only in the context of international and national Days of Commemoration – there are much more opportunities in daily life to deal with any kind of anti-semitism and discrimination.

We declare our obligation to promote such committment. International cooperation among education unions as well as under the umbrella of Education International, the Global Union Federation in the field of education, provides a lot of opportunities to do so.

At the same time we call on the respective international organisations and the national governments, especially the education ministers, to allocate the necessary human and financial ressources that are needed to cope with the necessary pedagogical and political challenges in dealing with the Holocaust and with current tendencies of anti-semitism, racism and xenophobia. Furthermore we urge the national governments to provide their full political and moral support for this work.

A Holocaust shall never happen again – in any way – nowhere in the world."

International Day of Commemoration to honour Holocaust Victims Oÿwiÿcim, 27 January 2008

Yossi Wassermann General Secretary Histadrut Hamorim

Stefan Kubowicz President NSZZ Solidarnoÿÿ/SKOiW

Slawomir Broniarz President ZNP

Ulrich Thöne President GEW