SWEDEN PLANS
TO CREATE A
HOLOCAUST MUSEUM
Paweł Sawicki, Memoria editor-in-chief
Sweden announced the plans to create a Holocaust museum. It will focus on Holocaust survivors from the Scandinavian country and the history of the diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. We asked Annika Strandhäll, Swedish minister for health and social affairs, few questions about the project.
Almost 50 thousand people from Sweden visited the Auschwitz Memorial last year. Many are young people who take part in different educational projects. Sweden is also one of the countries that supported the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation in order to save the authenticity of the Memorial Site. “Let our young come here and learn about our history and humanity's capacity for evil” - wrote the Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Löfven in 2017 in the museum’s memorial book. Now we read information that a Holocaust Museum is to be created in Sweden. What is the idea behind creating such an institution?
We see a growing trend of ignorance, hate and populism all throughout Europe. In Sweden we have organized Nazis marching on our streets. This is a development a decent democratic society have to fight. We must remember and fight back these dark ideas.
Initially, the government takes the initiative to start arranging collections about Sweden and the Holocaust, emphasizing the memories and objects of the survivors. At the same time, planning for a national museum about Sweden and the Holocaust begins. We will also give the task to identify what collections that we already have In Sweden, both at formal institutions as well as private once and within the civil society.
The new museum will be assigned the task of collecting, arranging and displaying objects and documented stories describing the Swedish history of the Holocaust, where the foundation is a basic exhibition based on the subjects and stories of the survivors. In addition, the museum can serve as educational and research institutions, libraries and venues for temporary exhibitions.
What do you think are the most important historical connection points between the story of the Holocaust and the history of Sweden that the future institution should focus on in order to make this history more relevant to the audience in Sweden? What should in your opinion be the focus of the new Museum?
Soon the last Swedish eyewitnesses and the survivors after the Holocaust will go out of time. Their stories and experiences must not be forgotten. Sweden's history is intertwined with the history of Holocaust by the survivors who lived their lives here, through Swedes who acted to save people from the Holocaust. The fight against Nazism must be carried on many fronts. Civil society and the education system have important roles. Further initiatives need to be taken. In addition, there is reason to strengthen those institutions where research and qualified talks can be conducted while managing the memory of Nazi crime. Our ambition is to include a Raoul Wallenberg center within the museum.
Photo: Kristian Pohl/Regeringskansliet