Abstract: Holocaust Memorial Day 2026 reached more people than ever before, with millions engaging across the UK through national moments of remembrance, education and community activity. From Light the Darkness to events in schools, workplaces and public spaces, this year showed the growing impact of coming together to remember, learn and stand against all prejudice today.
Central to this was the Light the Darkness campaign, which saw 230 buildings and landmarks illuminated in purple at 8pm as part of a nationwide act of remembrance – an increase from 200 in 2025. Delivered in partnership with Ocean Outdoor and supported by JCDecaux, Global and Bauer Media, the campaign appeared on 3,000 billboards across the UK, generating over 10 million impacts\*. HMDT’s radio advert aired more than 900 times across Global’s network, reaching a further 14 million impacts.
Engagement also grew at community level, with 3,800 organisations marking HMD – up from 3,500 the previous year. This was mirrored by a surge in digital participation on the day, with social media interactions across HMDT’s Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn rising by 140%, from 10,000 in 2025 to 24,000 in 2026.
Crucially, the 2026 impact data highlights the reversal of a decline over the past two years in secondary school participation, which had previously attracted national concern. More than 1,000 secondary schools marked Holocaust Memorial Day this year – 17% of the total number of secondary schools nationwide, which increased from just 9% last year. This was further bolstered by the reach of the charity’s educational film, *It began with words*, which was viewed by over 130,000 pupils, helping ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust remain central to younger generations.
To take a deeper look at the key moments behind this year’s commemoration, read our Impact Report for Holocaust Memorial Day 2026. From a special event hosted by Their Majesties The King and Queen to acts of remembrance in communities across the UK, the report captures the scale and significance of HMD 2026.
Abstract: While public antisemitism after 7 October prominently features references to Israel, forms of Holocaust denial and distortion remain very relevant and are deeply intertwined with other forms of antisemitism.
Acts and manifestations of Holocaust denial and distortion appear in various forms and are adopted by different milieus and groups to serve their own political or religious agenda, regardless of societal and country-specific context.
Our publication „Holocaust Distortion in Europe“ examines the alarming prevalence of Holocaust denial and distortion in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, and Poland; demonstrating how antisemitic narratives adapt to societal crises, are exploited for political gain, often evade legal accountability, erode historical truth—with harmful consequences for Jewish communities, Holocaust survivors, and their descendants—and highlights the urgent need for coordinated action.
Abstract: Dal 1991 la Fondazione CDEC produce un rapporto annuale sull’antisemitismo in Italia. L’ultimo, che analizza i dati raccolti nel corso del 2025, evidenzia un quadro particolarmente allarmante: le manifestazioni di odio antiebraico in Italia continuano a crescere. Anche in termini qualitativi la situazione è nettamente peggiorata, poiché gli atti più gravi hanno conosciuto un aumento maggiore.
Nel corso dell’anno si sono registrati 963 episodi di antisemitismo, a fronte di 1492 segnalazioni ricevute. Questo dato rappresenta una crescita di circa il 10% rispetto allo scorso anno, del 100% rispetto al 2023 e di ben il 400% rispetto al 2022. Si tratta, dunque, di un trend in continua crescita.
Nel corso del 2025 la matrice principale delle manifestazioni di odio è stata legata a Israele. Antichi pregiudizi — come l’accusa del sangue, il mito dell’elezione e l’odio verso il genere umano — sono stati trasferiti sul sionismo e sullo Stato di Israele.
Sebbene le diffamazioni rappresentino la maggior parte degli episodi, seguite dalle minacce, gli incrementi maggiori rispetto allo scorso anno hanno riguardato le discriminazioni (+100%) e le aggressioni fisiche (+225%). In altri termini, gli atti più gravi sono cresciuti maggiormente.
Le manifestazioni di palese antisemitismo online rappresentano oltre il 66% dei casi. Particolarmente diffuso è l’uso di emoji o numeri apparentemente innocui (come il gufo, il polpo, 109, 14/88, le triple parentesi (((cognome))), il triangolo rosso) per veicolare messaggi d’odio nelle subculture digitali.
I mesi estivi, e in particolare giugno e luglio, hanno mostrato picchi particolarmente elevati. Anche le Olimpiadi di Milano-Cortina, all’inizio del 2026, hanno evidenziato vari episodi di antisemitismo. In termini geografici, gli episodi di antisemitismo fisico da noi osservati si sono concentrati in Lombardia e Lazio, seguiti da Toscana, Emilia-Romagna, Piemonte e Veneto.
Forse il dato più inquietante è che il 14% degli italiani concorda con l’ipotesi di espellere gli ebrei dall’Italia. Manifestare la propria identità (ad esempio parlare in ebraico o indossare la kippah) comporta oggi rischi particolarmente elevati di aggressione e marginalizzazione.
Il Rapporto si basa sulla definizione operativa di antisemitismo dell’International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), largamente in uso internazionalmente e analizzata nel contributo scientifico del prof. Sergio Della Pergola.
Abstract: Virtual reality and augmented reality experiences play an increasingly significant role in Holocaust memory and education as professional memory institutions continue to explore the affordances of integrating digital technologies into visitor and user experience. There is a rapidly expanding list of projects experimenting with cinematic virtual reality, photogrammetry, digital mapping, 3D modelling, 360-degree on-location survivor testimony as well as a growing portfolio of augmented and mixed reality mobile and tablet applications.
Principally being implemented as spatial technologies, several memorial sites and museums are exploring the possibilities of creating 3D graphic reconstructions of former sites of Nazi persecution in AR/VR such as the digital reconstruction of Falstad Concentration Camp, the Here: Spaces for Memory App at the Bergen-Belsen Memorial Site, the Sobibor AR exhibit, the project Auschwitz VR as well as the 360-degrees-walks at Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial. Going further, some digital initiatives are using VR/AR/MR technologies to zoom in on historical documents, testimonies and artefacts, notable projects include the ARt AR App at the Dachau Memorial Site and Museum which revivifies historical and contemporary drawings and paintings in-situ at the present-day site, the Anne Frank House VR which invites visitors to navigate the annex through a series of digital objects, and The Last Goodbye VR experience which foregrounds survivor testimony within Majdanek, the similarly survivor-driven Walk with Me at The Melbourne Holocaust Museum and numerous films that shape the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center’s The Journey Back exhibition space.
While it is important to note that VR technology is not new and has existed for more than 30 years, it is only recently that the technology has become more widely accessible in the heritage and museum sectors (in part, due to the affordability of headsets and devices in the domestic market). The proliferation of VR and AR projects within the sector, then, raises critical questions regards the opportunities for digital Holocaust memory practice and education while also bringing to the fore issues of curation, contextualisation, visitor experience and accessibility.
This report serves as an important first step in this work. It was created as part of the research project ‘Participatory Workshops – Co-Designing Standards for Digital Interventions in Holocaust Memory and Education’, which is one thread of the larger Digital Holocaust Memory Project at the University of Sussex. The participatory workshops project have focused on six themes, each of which brought together a different range of expertise to discuss current challenges and consider possible recommendations for the future.
The themes were:
AI and machine learning
Digitising material evidence
Recording, recirculating and remixing testimony
Social media
Virtual memoryscapes
Computer games
Abstract: The social media landscape is ever-changing as is its relationship to Holocaust memory and education. In the earlier days of Facebook and Twitter’s dominance, there was a clear divide of opinions in the Holocaust sector. On one hand, some institutions were early adopters (notably the Auschwitz State Museum) and others experimented with the affordances of these platforms such as the team at Grodzka Gate, Lublin extending the analogue practice of school pupils sending letters to child Holocaust victim Henio Zytomirski onto Facebook and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s ‘tweet-up’ hybrid architecture tour. On the other hand, expressions of hesitance about these participatory spaces informed the need for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s Education Working Group to establish guidelines for using social media in this context (2014).
As practice grew, it also became somewhat formalised with most organisations predominantly focusing on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for public engagement work, and most content presenting traditional curation of historical sources with additional narrative, promoting the organisation’s offline (or elsewhere online) work, or behind the scenes access to curator and educator experiences. Whilst, one of the
celebrated potentials about social media is their ability to help organisations to reach wider (global) audiences, little has changed online since Eva Pfanzelter’s (2014) claim that the Holocaust institutions that dominated previously offline, also dominate on social media platforms. Few others attract much engagement with their posts.
TikTok has brought both new opportunities and challenges for the Holocaust sector – organisations and individuals who have taken to creating content on the platform are seeing far greater engagement than they had on previous ones. Yet, TikTok is also one of the most data-invasive and opaque platforms regarding researcher access. Many also encounter far more Holocaust denial, distortion and trivialisation on this platform. However, the social media landscape is also far larger than the Holocaust sector has really acknowledged and much of the coded hate content that appears on mainstream platforms has been cultivated at scale on others, from 8Chan to Telegram, and gaming and VR social spaces. It is imperative therefore that we bring together a wide range of stakeholders and experts to discuss what the sector needs to move forward with its work on social media. If Holocaust memory and education is to remain visible in the ever-expanding digital world, then it must be visible across a variety of digital spaces.
This report serves as an important first step in this work. It was created as part of the research project ‘Participatory Workshops – Co-Designing Standards for Digital Interventions in Holocaust Memory and Education’, which is one thread of the larger Digital Holocaust Memory Project at the University of Sussex.
The participatory workshops project have focused on six themes, each of which brought together a different range of expertise to discuss current challenges and consider possible recommendations for the future. The themes were:
AI and machine learning
Digitising material evidence
Recording, recirculating and remixing testimony
Social media
Virtual memoryscapes
Computer games
Abstract: Since 7th October 2023, when Hamas perpetrated the worst single massacre against Jews since the Holocaust, there has been a surge in antisemitism in UK universities. Some of this has tipped over into outright anti-Jewish discrimination and harassment. Jewish students and staff have reported feeling unable to fully participate in university life, for fear of being abused, harassed, or attacked. This report offers a summary of research by the IntraCommunal Professorial Group (ICPG) aimed at understanding free speech on university campuses especially with regard to the approaches to speech concerning Jews, Israel, Zionism, and the Middle East conflict.
This report sets out the key issues, and a series of recommendations based on the research and grouped together under the subheadings of our three key findings. Those key findings are as follows:
1. UK universities have (a) a general legal duty, to protect freedom of expression on campus; (b) a duty to prevent discrimination and harassment based on protected characteristics; (c) a university-specific institutional duty to protect the academic freedoms of research and study. Currently UK universities are meeting neither (b) nor (c) in their response to the menace to Jewish students and academic staff posed by antisemitism, particularly antiIsrael antisemitism. That is, they are neither preventing discrimination and harassment, nor protecting freedom of research or freedom to study.
2. Anti-Israel protests and encampments on campuses, including in online spaces, have exacerbated what was already considered a hostile environment by many Jewish students and staff. Some university departments, trade unions, and student political milieus – inperson and online – have directly and indirectly discriminated against, abused, harassed and/or excluded Jewish students.
3. Traditional antisemitic concepts and tropes are being used by pro-Palestinian and/or antiIsrael staff and students. Israel and Zionism are regularly demonised and delegitimised, often using blood libels or other anti-Jewish hatred, and students or academics labelled as Zionists are routinely viewed as legitimate targets for discrimination, harassment, abuse, and/or attack.
Abstract: This report finds that the decision to ban away supporters from the fixture was reached through a flawed risk assessment process.
We argue that the prohibition was not justified by the risks as assessed, and it represented an unnecessary departure from ordinary policing practice, which we believe would likely have been sufficient to secure the match.
The Parliamentary Select Committee similarly concludes that the decision-making process was flawed. However, it maintains that the prohibition was proportionate to the level of risk, even if that risk had been more rigorously assessed.
Our analysis considers a further, key point. A central weakness in the decision-making process was the failure clearly to specify the nature and source of the risk.
If the primary risk came from away supporters themselves, then exclusion may have been justified. But if the principal risk derived from anti-Israel protestors, boycott activists, and antizionist actors seeking to disrupt or attack the match, then banning the away supporters risked punishing those who were being threatened and who did not themselves constitute a significant threat.
In such circumstances, the appropriate response would have required consideration beyond technical policing calculations. If there was a significant antisemitic threat, a policy priority might have been to mobilise sufficient police resources to defend the match, the visiting team, and their supporters rather than excluding them.
The decision-making process appears to have overestimated the risk posed by Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters, in part through a misreading of the Amsterdam precedent and perhaps through reliance on politically committed sources of advice. It may have given insufficient weight to risks arising from boycott activism and to the risk of antisemitic violence of the kind that occurred in Amsterdam.
The process did not engage in a serious way with institutions or individuals from the Jewish community either locally or nationally, or with HM Independent Advisor on Antisemitism. Doing so would have given it a better chance of avoiding the mistakes that it made in understanding the precedent, possible alternatives and the predictable impact of the away fans ban on Jewish communities.
If there was a significant antisemitic dimension to the threat environment, the risk assessment process did not identify or articulate it clearly.
Abstract: For this report, the Union of Jewish Students has collated dozens of testimonies from students who have
experienced antisemitism on campus.
The UJS also commissioned polling of 1,000 students, across all faiths and none, to assess the
impact of campus protests and the rise of antisemitism. The findings reveal alarming levels of campus
antisemitism, significant disruption caused by protests, and perceptions of Jewish students marred by
hostility and intolerance.
Key Findings:
1.Antisemitism has become normalised on our campuses.
- One in four students (23%) have seen behaviour that targets Jewish students for their religion/ethnicity.
- One in five (20%) students would be reluctant to, or would never, houseshare with a Jewish student.
- Jewish students have told us they have faced physical and verbal abuse, social ostracisation and
widespread antisemitic attitudes.
2.Glorification of terrorism is prevalent and unpunished.
- Our research has found that student groups have explicitly called for violence against Jews, even justifying the terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in December 2025.
- 49% of students have heard slogans or chants glorifying Hamas, Hezbollah or other proscribed groups on campus.
- 47% have witnessed justification of the October 7th attacks, rising to 77% among those who encounter Israel-Palestine protests regularly.
3. Protests disrupt all students, and universities have a clear mandate from students to take firmer action.
-Protests have disrupted learning for 65% of students, and 40% have altered their journey on campus to avoid disruption.
- Universities where protests are more frequent have seen higher levels of antisemitism, and four in ten (39%) of students who witness regular Israel-Palestine protests have seen Jewish students harassed often.
- 69% of students disapprove of protests blocking access to learning, and 82% deem calls to 'globalise the intifada' to be antisemitic.
Abstract: I 2024 har AKVAH registreret det højeste antal antisemitiske hændelser nogensinde med i alt 207 antisemitiske hændelser. 1 Det er en stigning på 71 % fra 2023, hvor AKVAH registrerede 121 antisemitiske hændelser.
Terrorangrebet i Israel d. 7. oktober 2023, den efterfølgende krig i Gaza og den bredere konflikt i Mellemøsten dannede bagtæppe for størstedelen af de antisemitiske hændelser i 2024. I 125 (60 %) af de 207 antisemitiske hændelser var indholdet eller konteksten for hændelserne relateret til Israel, krigen i Gaza eller andre udviklinger og begivenheder i Mellemøsten.
Brandattentatet mod en jødisk kvindes hjem i maj 2024 var en ekstrem og personfarlig antisemitisme af en karakter, som AKVAH ikke har registreret siden terrorangrebet mod synagogen i 2015, hvor den frivillige vagt Dan Uzan
blev dræbt. AKVAH registrerede i 2024 hele 9 tilfælde af vold, overfald og anden fysisk chikane mod jøder, heriblandt et knivoverfald mod en jødisk dreng i Slagelse.
I 5 hændelser i 2024 modtog jødiske borgere konkrete og eksplicitte dødstrusler. I yderligere 20 hændelser blev der opfordret til drab på jøder generelt eller udtrykt ønske om jøders død.
Over halvdelen (63 %) af de antisemitiske hændelser i 2024 var rettet mod personer eller institutioner, der tydeligt kunne identificeres som jøder eller jødiske.
Denne tendens var hyppig både offline (49 % af alle hændelserne offline) og i særdeleshed online (90 % af alle hændelserne online).3 AKVAH vurderer på den baggrund, at personer eller institutioner, der er synligt jødiske i det offentlige eller online rum, er i betydeligt forhøjet risiko for at blive udsat for antisemitiske hændelser.
I 2024 var der en udbredt tendens til, at jødiske borgere, institutioner eller organisationer i Danmark blev holdt kollektivt ansvarlige for Israels handlinger (71 hændelser). Denne tendens forekom både offline (56 % af de 71 tilfælde) og online (44 % af de 71 tilfælde).
Antisemitiske hændelser, der involverede børn og unge, var en udtalt og alvorlig problematik i 2024 (26 hændelser). Ligesom i 2023 var størstedelen af de antisemitiske tilfælde af overfald, trusler, chikane og mobning mod jødiske børn og unge i 2024 relateret til begivenheder i Israel, Gaza eller bredere udviklinger i konflikten i Mellemøsten (17 hændelser).
Referencer til Holocaust, 2. verdenskrig eller Hitler, eller eksplicit nazistisk symbolik, retorik og gestik indgik i 97 (47 %) af de antisemitiske hændelser for 2024. Dette forekom både med eksplicit afsæt i den ekstreme højrefløj, men
optrådte også hyppigt med relation til Israel, krigen i Gaza og begivenheder i Mellemøsten. Det vidner om en udbredt tendens til, at både nazismen som ideologi og Holocaust som historisk begivenhed benyttes som midler til
antisemitisk chikane med afsæt i forskellige ideologier, politiske overbevisninger og samfundsmæssige agendaer.
Antisemitiske hændelser offline udgjorde en større andel (66 %) af de registrerede hændelser i 2024 end i 2023 (47 %). Antallet af onlinebaserede antisemitiske hændelser var højere i 2024 (71) end i 2023 (64).
Antisemitiske konspirationsteorier optrådte i 28 % af de antisemitiske hændelser online.
Abstract: In June 2025, Hadassah UK partnered with the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem to undertake important mental health research in the community. Developed by leading Israeli trauma experts, a UK-wide survey was presented to the community to understand how British Jews were coping with the psychological and social impact of October 7th, the ongoing conflict, and rising antisemitism.
This research involved 511 participants from diverse backgrounds within the UK Jewish community, representing various denominational affiliations, geographic locations, and demographic characteristics. The completed study provided robust statistical power for examining complex relationships between trauma exposure, psychological symptoms, and protective factors.Our comprehensive statistical analysis reveals critical insights into the psychological impact of exposure to the October 7th events and subsequent antisemitism on the UK Jewish community.
Participants were recruited through multiple channels including synagogues, Jewish community organisations, and social networks to ensure broad representation, as well as help to capture the full spectrum of experiences within the UK Jewish community.
From our study, we can see that the psychological impact of October 7th and subsequent events created significant mental health challenges within the UK Jewish community. A key finding showed that over one-third of participants exhibited clinically significant PTSD symptoms, including intrusive memories of attack imagery, avoidance of trauma reminders, and heightened reactive responses.
Abstract: Our report on Greek textbooks shows an accurate and respectful approach to Judaism, Jewish tradition and the Holocaust. The study finds that the curriculum reflects Greece’s commitment to international standards for peace and tolerance education.
Judaism is presented with balance and care within Religious Education textbooks, including lessons on the Torah, Jewish festivals, and beliefs. The Holocaust is taught with exceptional depth, most notably in a Grade 12 History textbook that devotes a full chapter to the genocide, includes survivor testimonies, and highlights the courage of Greek citizens and clergy who protected Jewish communities during the war.
The report notes positive curriculum updates, including the removal of antisemitic and unbalanced material from a Junior High School textbook, reflecting a commitment toward fairness and accuracy. However, the study also identifies areas for further development. Antisemitism itself is not directly addressed, and prewar Greek Jewish life, Zionism, and the establishment of Israel receive little attention. Expanding on these themes would further strengthen the Greek curriculu
Abstract: Depuis les années 2000, et plus encore depuis le 7 octobre 2023, les actes antisémites se sont multipliés dans de nombreux pays, dont la Belgique.
Quel est l’état des lieux dans notre pays ? Quelle part de la population belge nourrit des préjugés antisémites ? La haine antisémite serait-elle de retour en Belgique ?
En s’appuyant sur les résultats détaillés du seul sondage d’envergure mené en Belgique sur ces sujets, Joël Kotek et Joël Amar se sont attachés, dans ce rapport, à répondre à ces questions. Dans une société belge en voie d’archipellisation, leur rapport montre la persistance d’opinions antisémites, ainsi que leur sur-représentation à l’extrême-droite, à l’extrême-gauche, chez les musulmans et à Bruxelles.
Il met en lumière quatre formes d’antisémitisme qui prennent en étau les Belges juifs, nourrissant chez eux un vif sentiment de solitude et d’inquiétude. En publiant ce rapport sur un sujet peu étudié et souvent frappé de déni, l’Institut Jonathas veut objectiver les différentes réalités de l’antisémitisme en Belgique et alerter sur les menaces qui pèsent sur les Juifs et, au-delà, sur la société belge dans son ensemble.
Il entend également contribuer à un sursaut, ayant la conviction que la lutte contre l’antisémitisme a besoin d’un « reset » en Belgique, c’est-à-dire d’une réinitialisation en vue d’une plus grande efficacité.
Abstract: CST recorded 3,700 antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2025, the second-highest total ever reported to CST in a single calendar year. This is an increase of 4% from the 3,556 anti-Jewish hate incidents recorded by CST in 2024, and 14% lower than the highest ever annual total of 4,298 antisemitic incidents reported in 2023. CST recorded 1,662 antisemitic incidents in 2022, and 2,261 in 2021.
The increase from the total recorded in 2024 reflects that antisemitic incident levels remain at a significantly higher rate than was the case prior to Hamas’ terror attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. There was an immediate and significant spike in recorded cases of anti-Jewish hate in the UK in the aftermath of that attack. The subsequent war, and its grip of public and media attention even during periods of ceasefire, has continued to impact the amount and nature of anti-Jewish hate reported in the 27 months since that date.
Abstract: La séquence génocidaire déclenchée le 7 octobre 2023 par le Hamas n’a pas seulement engendré une catastrophe humanitaire de grande ampleur, elle a également servi de détonateur à une libération de la parole antisémite dans des proportions et sous des formes que l’on croyait reléguées aux marges les plus extrêmes de l’espace public occidental. Bien au-delà des slogans violents ou des propos haineux épisodiques, ce sont des tropes antisémites pluriséculaires – que l’on pensait à jamais disqualifiés par leur association historique avec la Shoah – qui opèrent aujourd’hui un retour tonitruant dans le débat public, et ce jusqu’au sein des médias les plus respectés. Au centre de ces motifs éculés, celui du Juif tueur d’enfants, buveur de sang et figure surnaturelle du mal refait surface. Le Juif
(certes déguisé en sioniste), n’apparaît plus comme citoyen, soldat ou acteur politique, mais comme incarnation du mal absolu. L’imagerie du vampire, du sacrificateur, du boucher – jusque-là instruments de la propagande nazie, des
pamphlets d’extrême droite, de la rhétorique de l’ultra-gauche radicale et des médias arabo-musulmans les plus haineux – refleurit aujourd’hui… dans la presse grand public européenne.
Abstract: The research examines changes in online antisemitic narratives following the Hamas terror attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent war. These events led to a rise in antisemitism across Europe, underscoring the need to analyze how antisemitic narratives evolved online.
Conducted simultaneously in Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Romania using a unified methodology, the study focused on online textual content, including articles, comments, and Facebook posts. It analyzed content from 1–15 April in both 2023 and 2024, reviewing nearly 7,000 pieces per country. The research methodology and categories were finalised in late 2023 and early 2024, with data collection beginning in spring 2024. The final report was completed in December 2024.
The research was based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, adopted by 43 countries and several international organizations, including the EU and most of its member states.
Abstract: The research examines changes in online antisemitic narratives following the Hamas terror attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent war. These events led to a rise in antisemitism across Europe, underscoring the need to analyze how antisemitic narratives evolved online.
Conducted simultaneously in Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Romania using a unified methodology, the study focused on online textual content, including articles, comments, and Facebook posts. It analyzed content from 1–15 April in both 2023 and 2024, reviewing nearly 7,000 pieces per country. The research methodology and categories were finalised in late 2023 and early 2024, with data collection beginning in spring 2024. The final report was completed in December 2024.
The research was based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, adopted by 43 countries and several international organizations, including the EU and most of its member states.
Abstract: The research examines changes in online antisemitic narratives following the Hamas terror attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent war. These events led to a rise in antisemitism across Europe, underscoring the need to analyze how antisemitic narratives evolved online.
Conducted simultaneously in Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Romania using a unified methodology, the study focused on online textual content, including articles, comments, and Facebook posts. It analyzed content from 1–15 April in both 2023 and 2024, reviewing nearly 7,000 pieces per country. The research methodology and categories were finalised in late 2023 and early 2024, with data collection beginning in spring 2024. The final report was completed in December 2024.
The research was based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, adopted by 43 countries and several international organizations, including the EU and most of its member states.
Abstract: Antisemitism is still a significant problem in Polish society. This is the conclusion that emerges from the quantitative data from previous years and the statements of our interviewees.
Within the Jewish community, members often report encountering antisemitism in the form of unsavoury jokes and stereotypes rather than overt discrimination. However, conversations around the Holocaust and Polish-Jewish history frequently lead to antisemitic stereotypes and hate speech. Interestingly, the Holocaust is often the subject of jokes. This may be attributable to the perception of Jews as a historical minority who once lived in Poland.
In educational settings, courses on the Jewish community are overwhelmingly historical, primarily focusing on World War II. Almost all respondents, except non-Jewish youth, agree that contemporary Jewish topics are seldom covered in schools. This gap in multicultural education has led to a lack of understanding about nondiscrimination and minority-related issues across various age groups in Polish society.
While younger generations appear to be more tolerant toward minorities and more open to learning about them, the term "Jew" is still reportedly used as an insult among them. Discrimination is not limited to the Jewish community; focus group respondents also identified Ukrainians, Roma, people of colour, and the LGBTQ+ community as other discriminated groups. Despite the majority of focus group participants being women, only one person in each group cited women as a discriminated-against minority.
Abstract: In general, the Jewish population in Hungary has a high level of education and is in a good position socially and financially, according to the available literature and our interviewees. Those who identify as Jews are mostly non-religious and consider themselves predominantly European citizens or equally Jewish and Hungarian. According to research, the level of antisemitism in Hungary increased significantly around 2010, presumably due to the rise in popularity of the far-right Jobbik party. Since 2015, the available data show that the level of antisemitism has not changed significantly. At the same time, most interviewees reported a general increase in antisemitism in the country, citing the internet as the primary cause, as well as the family background, deficiencies of the education system, the polarisation of society, and the government‘s Soros campaign. In Hungary, antisemitism is most often manifested in the form of conspiracy theories, but other forms are also present (e.g. emotional antisemitism, new antisemitism). According to the available data, the most common form of antisemitism is hate speech. The number of hate crimes is negligible. At the political level, antisemitism emerged from the second half of the 2000s in connection with Jobbik and has been one of the tools of far-right parties (currently Mi Hazánk – Our Homeland) ever since, albeit in a less direct form than before, disguised by coded speech and appearing mainly as conspiracy theories. Although the Fidesz government announced zero tolerance towards antisemitism in 2013, it has focused its communication on several issues related to antisemitism in recent years. These include the campaign against George Soros, the glorification of antisemitic politicians (e.g. Miklós Horthy) and artists (e.g. Albert Wass) between the two world wars, the distortion of the memory of the Holocaust, and the fight against the global external enemy. Antisemitism is also present in the sports fan milieu, primarily in the football fan scene and especially in the ultra scene. According to a 2017 survey, half of Hungarian Jews have experienced antisemitism in their lifetime, and all of our Jewish interviewees mentioned such experiences. Many of them highlighted the government‘s antisemitism-related doubletalk’s negative effects on their sense of security. While antisemitism is undoubtedly present in Hungary, research and interviewees also suggest that society is much more prejudiced towards other minorities, especially the Roma, the LGBTQ+, and migrants. According to first-line practitioners, the extent to which antisemitism is present among students depends on the school. When it appears among students, it is primarily present in verbal forms, and often, there are no real antisemitic sentiments in the background. Several interviewees identified education as one of the most important tools to reduce antisemitism.
Abstract: This document was prepared based on the analysis of materials found through documentary research, in particular on materials and sources made available by the CDEC Foundation and the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) portal, and on the analysis of data acquired through the responses of the interviewees intended to provide structured and documented information on the phenomenon of antisemitism in Italy today. In particular, the report focuses on the situation of Italian Jewish communities and Jewish life in its social, political, economic, cultural and religious dimensions.
The most substantial part of the report concerns the level of antisemitism in Italian society, its prevalent forms and the areas in which it manifests itself. With reference to the different manifestations of antisemitism, it’s pointed out which stereotypes are present in society and which are the most prevalent. From this analysis, it’s clear that the forms and areas in which antisemitism manifests itself differ according to the degree of schooling, cultural formation and socio-economic background of the perpetrators of antisemitic acts. Hence, it is difficult to identify the profile of the antisemite rigidly. The areas where acts of hatred and hate crimes are most prevalent are social media and sports, particularly soccer. Still, even in the political debate, it is evident that more or less latent forms of antisemitism related to Nazi-fascist ideology are present for far-right movements and anti-Zionism for the extreme left wing.
The report also aims to highlight which other minorities are most discriminated against in Italy and what stereotypes and prejudices associated with them, as well as what are the intersections between antisemitism and other forms of racism and intolerance. Considerable space is, finally, devoted to the educational strategies implemented in schools to counter and prevent antisemitism as the direction of the Italian Ministry of Education and Merit (IMPE) points to the dissemination and implementation of the Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism (2019) in public schools and the promotion of a culture of dialogue and peace.
Abstract: This research report presents the findings of an extensive study conducted in Romania between March and September 2023, focusing on the multifaceted issue of antisemitism in the country. The study provides an analysis of the contemporary situation of Jewish communities in Romania, the prevalence and perceptions of antisemitism, and
its intersection with other forms of intolerance.
Additionally, the report examines efforts to prevent antisemitism through educational initiatives. The research reveals that antisemitism in Romania has deep historical roots, and it is still pervasive and widespread. It typically takes the form of latent stereotypes and prejudices, manifested in narratives that are deeply intertwined with complex
conspiracy theories and nationalist interpretations of Romanian history. Many individuals are unaware
of the current-day expressions and manifestations of antisemitism, and this lack of awareness further
exacerbates the problem. Although Romania has introduced legislation in recent years to combat
antisemitism and other forms of discrimination and intolerance, the enforcement and implementation
of these laws are inconsistent and sporadic.
A positive development is the introduction of Holocaust education as a mandatory subject in high schools, starting in 2023. However, there are challenges in the effective implementation of this curriculum. Teachers call for clearer guidelines, training, and updated educational materials to ensure the new curriculum fulfils its goals. The research underscores the pressing need for efforts to acknowledge and address antisemitism in Romania. These efforts should include increasing awareness about contemporary manifestations of antisemitism, consistent enforcement of
existing legislation, and working collaboratively across sectors to strengthen Holocaust education
initiatives. These steps are essential in combating the deeply entrenched antisemitism in the country
and promoting a more inclusive and tolerant society for all.
Abstract: The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) commissioned Schoen Cooperman Research to conduct a comprehensive national study of Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness in the Netherlands.
Schoen Cooperman Research conducted 2,000 interviews across the Netherlands. The margin of error for the study is 2 percent. This memo presents our key research findings and compares these findings with prior Claims Conference studies, which were conducted in five other countries.
Our latest study finds significant gaps in Holocaust knowledge and awareness in the Netherlands, as well as widespread concern that Holocaust denial and Holocaust distortion are problems in the Netherlands today.
We found that 23 percent of Dutch Millennials and Gen Z respondents believe the Holocaust is a myth, or that it occurred but the number of Jews who died has been greatly exaggerated – the highest percentage among Millennials and Gen Z respondents in all six countries the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against
Germany has previously studied.
Further, 29 percent of Dutch respondents, including 37 percent of Dutch Millennials and Gen Z respondents believe that two million or fewer Jews were killed during the Holocaust. Moreover, despite the fact that more than 70 percent of the Netherlands’ Jewish population perished during the Holocaust, a majority of Dutch respondents (53
percent), including 60 percent of Dutch Millennials and Gen Z, do not cite the Netherlands as a country where the Holocaust took place. Finally, 53 percent of Dutch respondents believe that something like the Holocaust
could happen again today.
Topics: Antisemitism, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Law, Policy, European Union, Antisemitism: Education against, Holocaust Commemoration, Holocaust Education, Hate crime, Jewish Heritage, Jewish Culture
Topics: Holocaust Education, Antisemitism: Education against, Curriculum and Schoolbooks, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Israeli-Arab Conflict, Jewish - Muslim Relations, Islamophobia, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Schools: Non-Jewish, Teachers, Teaching and Pedagogy
