Taiwan’s participation in International Holocaust Remembrance Day would offer the nation more opportunities to be included in the UN framework, National Taiwan University (NTU) history professor Hua Yih-fen (花亦芬) said yesterday.
The day of remembrance, observed internationally on Jan. 27, commemorates the millions of people who were killed by the Nazi regime during World War II.
Speaking at a forum in Taipei about the 228 Massacre and transitional justice, Hua said that the remembrance day is advocated by UNESCO, so its ability to advance Taiwan’s participation in UN-organized events should not be underestimated.
Taiwan, with the assistance of the German Institute Taipei and the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, held its first International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in 2016, which then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) attended, she said.
The following day, the German Institute Taipei uploaded a list on Facebook of the nations that have held commemorative events, on which Taiwan was included and Ma was addressed as “president,” she said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) attended last year’s commemorative event, she added.
Holding commemorative events on the remembrance day would help boost the nation’s international profile and help it forge a closer bond with the international community, Hua said.
She emphasized the important role education plays in the pursuit of transitional justice, citing a 2014 UN report that included Taiwan on a list of countries and regions that do not educate their young students about the Holocaust in a way that would provide them with a thorough understanding of it.
This has resulted in some Taiwanese students dressing up as Nazis for fun, which has embarrassed Taiwan, she said.
Similarly, Taiwan’s senior-high schools must be required to allocate sufficient class hours to educate students about the 228 Incident and the ensuing White Terror era, instead of just focusing on the “elite” who were murdered, like history textbooks often do, she said.
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