Calling for European sites of Holocaust memory to apply to the newly established ESHEM Network by 31 March 2026
On February 2026, ESHEM launched its first Open Call for Membership. Throughout 2026, the ESHEM Steering Committee will award membership to the first 25-30 sites, reflecting geographic, historical, and typological diversity, and creating a framework for meaningful mutual learning and support.
The European Sites of Holocaust Memory (ESHEM) is a pan-European network connecting people and organisations that safeguard historical Holocaust sites. Through peer exchange, shared visibility, and collaboration, the network will strengthen its members’ roles in research, education, and commemoration, at a time when responsibility for preserving Holocaust memory increasingly rests with sites and their custodians.
Find out more information under the section‘Members‘ on the ESHEM website.
European Commission Coordinator addresses OSCE Conference on Combating Antisemitism
10 February 2026: As part of the Swiss Presidency of the OSCE, the European Commission Coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, Katharina von Schnurbein, visited the Jewish Museum Hohenems and the ‘Remember together cycle path’ along the Rhine river.
In the panel discussion on ‘From Analysis to Response: Tackling Current Challenges in Combating antisemitism and other forms of intolerance in the OSCE Region’ she emphasised concrete initiatives by the European Commission, on education, sports, intercultural/ interreligious dialogue, and the need to build bridges and new alliances. The conference took place in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and gathered representatives from all OSCE member countries, as well as Jewish community representatives, NGOs and experts on the topic.
Coordinator visits the Memorial for Refugees in Riehen, Switzerland
14 February 2026: European Commission Coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, Katharina von Schnurbein, visited the Memorial for Refugees in Riehen, Switzerland. The private initiative in the former railway station in Riehen remembers Jewish refugees that tried to enter Switzerland across the green border. The Memorial also informs school children and the wider public about those who courageously acted in support of the refugees at the risk of their lives or careers.
Commission Coordinator discussed at the Youth Congress about ‘Democracy Under Stress Test – Political Responsibility in the Face of Hate’
26 – 27 February 2026: Coordinator Katharina von Schnurbein travelled to Hamburg to speak on 27 February in a pannel on challenges for democracy and Jewish life at the Jugendkongress (Youth Congress) organised by Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle der Juden in Deutschland (ZWST) in Hamburg, Germany, that brought together 400 young Jewish persons with political and community leaders.
In the margins of the Jugendkongress, Katharina von Schnurbein exchanged with young leaders from the German Jewish Student Association and held bilateral talks with leaders.
The visit to Hamburg was a welcome opportunity to exchange with Hamburg’s lively Jewish community. Philipp Stricharz and Stefanie Szczupak presented the Coordinator the plans of the reconstruction of the Bornplatz Synagogue which will stand as a testament to Hamburg’s flourishing Jewish life.
Following the European Parliament’s commemoration ceremony on 27 January 2026 with a moving address by Holocaust survivor Tatiana Bucci, Katharina von Schnurbein visited in Hamburg the memorial site Bullenhuser Damm that commemorates the murder of 20 Jewish children and at least 28 adults by SS men on 20 April 1945. The children were subjected to pseudo-medical experiments at the Neuengamme concentration camp. Among the victims was Ms. Bucci’s cousin, Sergio De Simone, murdered being just 7 years old.
Curator Iris Groschek and Daniel Zylberberg, President of the civil society organisation ‘Kinder vom Bullenhuser Damm’ gave the Coordinator a tour of the site and presented novel and innovative education initiatives such as an app that uses a gamification approach. The visit was followed by a fruitful exchange on Holocaust education with the Chair of the Foundation for Hamburg Memorial Sites and Learning Centers, Oliver von Wrochem.
Ⓒ Pictures: ZWST
Commission presents work on combating antisemitism at Paris 8 University
23 February 2026: Pascale Falek, Policy Officer in the Office of the EC Coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, delivered a lecture as part of the University Diploma on combating racism and antisemitism at University Paris 8 led by Professor Marie-Anne Mattard-Bonucci.
She presented the actions of the Commission to fight against antisemitism in the session dedicated to the actions of international organisations, alongside Alexis Chapelan, Project Officer in the Section for Global Citizenship and Peace Education at UNESCO, and Anne-Françoise Tissier, member of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI).
ANTISEMITISM ONLINE
NEW: EU ‘Handbook on Online Antisemitism’
26 February 2026: The European Commission and the EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation published a ‘Handbook on Online Antisemitism’. The handbook introduces contemporary expressions of antisemitic hate online and unfolds the dynamics of digital communication that accelerates it. Recurring trends, materials, and practices in expressing online antisemitism are presented, as well as approaches applied to condone it. With a focus on materials and practices connected to online cultures, the handbook turns to popular formats of online hate on the intersection of extremism and antisemitism.
On 26 February 2026, the European Commission presented a new agenda to prevent and counter terrorism. The new agenda sets out the way forward to reinforce Europe’s collective response to evolving terrorist and violent extremist threats.
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