Draft speech for an event on remembrance trips to Holocaust memorial sites to Norway at the Embassy of Norway on 6 November

“Those who fall asleep in a democracy, wake up in a dictatorship.” This quote by German historian Otto Gritschneder is an appeal to us all. I have understood that this quote is a recurring theme in the remembrance trips to Holocaust memorial sites that Voksenåsen organises for Swedish students and teachers, with support from the Swedish Government, among others. 

The quote is about responsibility. 

So is a remembrance trip to a Holocaust memorial site.

It is about the responsibility to remember. The responsibility to learn from history. The responsibility to nurture the democracy and freedom in which we live today. And to draw attention to and stand up to the forces that want to divide us, that do not believe in everyone’s equal value, that want to blame and find simple solutions to complex problems.

The Holocaust is the darkest part of our history. So many lost their lives, and so many lost their loved ones, in the machinery of death created by Nazi Germany. Not least all the hundreds of Norwegian Jews who died in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp. 

This year marks 80 years since the end of the Holocaust and the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Last year, I accompanied Swedish students on a remembrance trip there. . It was profoundly moving and deeply touching for me, so I know that a remembrance trip is a memory for life.

And now, as more and more of the survivors who can bear witness to the horror that they experienced sadly leave us, these places remain our memories. 

It is important to understand that the Holocaust was not something that only happened there, far away in Poland.

It also happened here, not least in our neighbouring country, Norway. So close to us. The proximity and similarities between our countries and cultures are considerable. This makes a remembrance trip to Norway powerful in a different way – it happened here.

Sweden and Norway are connected in so many ways. Especially through all those brave Norwegians who, together with contacts on the Swedish side, and whilst putting their lives on the line, heroically rescued Jews, resistance fighters and others who needed to flee Nazi-occupied Norway to Sweden.

Not only has the Government increased funding for remembrance trips to Holocaust memorial sites, but it has also made it permanent. 

Increased funding because we are convinced that these trips help give students and school staff a greater understanding of antisemitism, both historically and today. And that understanding is really needed. This is why we think it is important that more people partake in remembrance trips to Holocaust memorial sites

Permanent because these trips are of such importance, and so we think that state support in this area should long-term and continuous.  

The Government has therefore provided an additional SEK 2 million for visits of remembrance to Holocaust memorial sites for 2026. Funding for visits of remembrance thereby totals SEK 8 million for 2026 and onwards.

As I mentioned, unfortunately, more and more of those who survived, and can bear witness to the Holocaust are leaving us. Leaving us they leave such a void behind them – not least an educational one. Many of us probably feel that one of the most powerful memories of our time in school was when we got to listen to the testimony of a Holocaust survivor. 

And trips to Holocaust memorial sites often begin some time before the actual visit – already in the classroom. Which is why we are so happy about the new and innovative teaching material Feldmanfallet that has been produced on behalf of the Swedish-Norwegian Cooperation Fund foundation. And we are equally happy that interest from teachers and students seems to be so great.

Because we are undeniably in a time when we need new pedagogical approaches to teach about the Holocaust and the forces and mechanisms that led to it.

Tonight’s agenda includes discussions about the intersection between private and public responsibility and how the funding of remembrance trips to Holocaust memorial sites can be broadened to include private funding – discussions I look forward to! Some of you may have noticed that I strongly believe in broader funding as a concept. Broader funding of the culture sector makes culture accessible to more people, for example by lowering thresholds and reaching new target groups. This increases not only the funding for specific cultural areas, but also added engagement. And we need more people who are engaged to preserving the memory of the Holocaust. 

Let me just conclude by saying that I am happy to be here tonight, in a room with forces that do not sleep in democracy – but rather are awake and determined. Let us continue to protect democracy and the memory of the Holocaust – for everyone’s sake! 

Thank you.