A historic vote in the United Nations General Assembly urges the 193 member states “to reject without any reservation any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, in either full or in part, or any activities to this end.”

The General Assembly adopted the resolution overnight by consensus — meaning it was approved without a country-by-country vote. Only Iran objected.

“We welcome this support for the fight against those who want to falsify history by saying that the Nazi German Holocaust against Jews and other groups didn’t happen,” said chairperson of the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, Deborah Hart.

“It comes on a significant day: the 80th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference on 20 January 1942 when Nazi leaders approved the ‘Final Solution to the Jewish Question’ – the extermination of 11 million Jews,” she said.

“Antisemitism, including Holocaust denial and distortion, has been increasing around the world, including in this country,” Deborah Hart added.

The resolution asks member states and, significantly, social media companies to take active measures to combat antisemitism and Holocaust denial through information and communication technologies.

“This UN resolution will help the delivery of the recommendation of the Royal Commission on the Christchurch mosques massacre: that the government increase efforts against racism and for greater social cohesion,” she concluded.

The resolution urges all U.N. members “to develop educational programs that will inculcate future generations with the lessons of the Holocaust in order to help to prevent future acts of genocide” In New Zealand that education is offered through our nation’s Holocaust centre – the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand.

Notes:
The resolution set out a definition of Holocaust denial that includes attempts to distort the historical facts:
· Intentional efforts to excuse or minimize the impact of the Holocaust or its principal elements, including collaborators and allies of Nazi Germany.
· Gross minimization of the number of the victims of the Holocaust in contradiction to reliable sources.
· Attempts to blame the Jews for causing their own genocide.
· Statements that cast the Holocaust as a positive historical event.
· Attempts to blur the responsibility for the establishment of concentration and death camps devised and operated by Nazi Germany by putting blame on other nations or ethnic groups

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