Facts that Speak: Respecting Victims, Countering Distortion and Strengthening Democracy

The project “Facts that Speak: Respecting Victims, Countering Distortion and Strengthening Democracy” (FACTS) aims to research the Holocaust from a European perspective. Despite the fact that almost all European countries participated in the persecution of Jews, and other ethnic, social, and political groups and minorities, many societies today face challenges in dealing with their difficult past, especially in admitting and taking responsibility for remembering the crimes committed by their fellow citizens and predecessors in the past. 

The trials following WWII continued in many countries long after the war ended and are still ongoing today. Through these trials, the evidence and testimonies of the survivors and eyewitnesses, the first facts about the functioning of the concentration camps, and the whole system of terror of Nazis, Fascists, and collaborators became publicly known for the first time. Despite its importance, this documentation was not used later as a source of evidence, and it is not well known. For this reason, the project FACTS aims to use post-WWII trials’ documentation as a historical source for research, education, and remembrance activities.