‘’The importance of our Jewish roots has too often been forgotten, downplayed, or even intentionally erased. It is time to show that Jewish culture is European culture. This was true one hundred years ago. And it is still true today. Europe must value its own Jewish-ness. So that Jewish life in Europe can thrive again,’’ said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

‘’The history of the Jewish people is the history of Europe,’’ said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as she announced on Friday that the Commission has decided to co-finance a new section on Jewish life in Europe before the Shoah, at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Jerusalem,  

‘’One century ago, almost ten million Europeans were Jewish. There were more Jewish people in Europe than in the rest of the world combined. And it was a blessing for Europe. Our European way of life wouldn’t be the same without Jewish culture and science,’’ she declared.

‘’Europe wouldn’t be the same without Gustav Mahler and Marc Chagall, without Rahel Hirsch and Albert Einstein, without Italo Svevo and Hannah Arendt. And it wouldn’t be the same without the Jewish values of personal responsibility and social justice,’’ von der Leyen added.

She continued, ‘’The Nazis tried to wipe out all of this. They killed six million European Jews. The greatest tragedy in human history, the greatest shame for Germany and Europe. Today we must keep telling the story of the Holocaust. And we must also remember the story of Jewish life in Europe.’’

‘’The importance of our Jewish roots has too often been forgotten, downplayed, or even intentionally erased. It is time to show that Jewish culture is European culture. This was true one hundred years ago. And it is still true today. Europe must value its own Jewish-ness. So that Jewish life in Europe can thrive again,’’ the EU leader concluded.