Over 70 high-level speakers from across the executive and parliamentary spectrum of the European continent and from Israel, as well as Jewish community leaders and diplomats, took part in the online commemorative event by sharing their messages and thoughts. 25,000 people watched the livestreamed event around the globe.
‘’We will make sure that life for European Jews in Europe remains as natural and normal as the life of any other European, no matter their origin or belief,’’ declared Charles Michel, President of the European Council, in a video address to the commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day organised Wednesday by the European Jewish Association (EJA).
”Antisemitism rears its ugly head in Europe. It has, in many ways, become disturbingly normalised. This is intolerable. We will never tolerate that Jews fear for their safety in the European Union. Europe without Jews would not be Europe,’’ he added.
‘’Today I take this oath and light a candle, in Brussels, in the name of the European Union. And I hope many others across our continent will light a candle, just as candles are lit in Auschwitz,’’ he said.
‘’We must light this candle every day, respecting this oath. And defending the values at the foundation of Humanity,’’ he added.
‘’Remembering the Holocaust is a moral and a historical duty. Not only to pay tribute to the victims. But also to renew our allegiance to our deepest human values, negated by the perpetrators of this unspeakable crime, while others remained silent,’’ said Michel.
‘’Silence is the first step towards acceptance. Since 1945, those who survived the number cut into their skin, did not remain silent. They testified. They spread the light of remembrance and hope to future generations,’’ he stressed.
‘’We, Europeans, have a special responsibility to fulfill this duty. Because it was on European soil that the Holocaust was orchestrated. And on European soil that the hate of the Jews was nurtured,’’ the EU leader said.
‘’This hatred, tragically, continues too often today. Antisemitism rears its ugly head in Europe. It has, in many ways, become disturbingly normalized. This is intolerable,’’ he added.
‘’Combating antisemitism with full force is our common duty. Antisemitic speech is hate speech. And we will punish it,’’ he continued.
‘’From the darkness of World War II, Europe’s founders built a society based on tolerance, human rights, freedom of religion or belief, and freedom of expression. Antisemitism has no place in our societies.’’
Over 70 high-level speakers from across the executive and parliamentary spectrum of the European continent and from Israel, as well as Jewish community leaders and diplomats, took part in the online commemorative event by sharing their messages and thoughts. Dozens people around the world also joined the event.
Among the leaders who addressed the commemoration, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo declared in his message: ‘’To the survivors and the families of the victims we promise to continue to fight against all forms of negationism and against the minimalization of the Shoah. We will do this will all political and legal means at our disposal.’’
”The genocide committed by the Nazi regime and its collaborators was the culmination of a process that began decades ago.A process that has its roots stretching back for centuries. Words of antisemitism, of hatred that ultimately led to all but destruction of Jewish culture in Europe.”
He added: ‘’Seventy-six years after the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, we still witness a surge of antisemitism, in some cases even a return of the old and toxic conspiracy theories. That is why Belgium supports European strategy and European strengthening of the fight against antisemitism. Making this fight successful requires sustained efforts from our side. So that the promise of Never Again can finally be fulfilled.’’
Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmès, whose mother is a Holocaust survivor, delivered the following message: ‘’Today we commemorate the memory of almost six million Jewish men, women and children, killed together with other victims of Nazi cruelty during WWII in an unprecedented genocide. Among these victims more than 25,000 were gathered at the Dossing barracks in Mechelen to be deported to Auschwitz. Their lives or dreams they had hoped for themselves and their children. They never did come back to us.’’
She remembered that exactly one year ago, during the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau she had the opportunity to speak with some of the last survivors of the Shoah. ‘’No book, no film, no study can give us a sufficient account of the horror that they had to endure. We owe them an apology because we were not able to protect them from the atrocities. We owe them our gratitude because their testimonies are unforgettable signal to other generations. And we owe them to remain vigilant and strongly committed to fight against any form of the hatred of others,’’ she said.
‘’Belgium has had legislation to condemn Holocaust denial for more than 25 years, yet we are witnessing an increase in the distortion of the Holocaust which is opening the way to its minimization and subsequent oblivion in a more insidious manner,’’ she deplored. ‘’Of course we will fight it with the political and legal tools at our disposal but above all we will fight it with our hearts and our souls since we know where this hatred lead us.’’
From next summer on, Belgium will assume the presidency of the International Committee of the Arolsen Archives which collects and opens to the public millions of documents on the victims of Nazi crimes.
Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, the UN body resposnible for education and culture, mentioned that her organization, in partnership with the United Nations, the University of Oxford and the World Jewish Congress have launched a global study to map the sources and channels of Holocaust distortion and denial on social media and to help the educators to respond it more effectively. With the World Jewish Congress, it has developed the website AoutHolocaust.org to provide reliable and easily accessible information on the genocide of the Jewish people in 19 languages. ‘’I am pleased to announce today that as a result of a good collaboration with Facebook, the social media will as of today connect people with the new website at the top of relevant search result so the public is better informed online,’’ Azoulay said.
Among the numerous senior officials who spoke during the four-hour commemoration were also Isaac Herzog, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the European Commission, Roberta Metsola, First Vice-President of the European Parliament and Omer Yankelevich, Israeli Minister for Diaspor Affairs. The event ended with the El Male Rachamim Jewish memorial prayer recited by Cantor and Rabbi Simcha Steinberg of the Jewish community of Endhoven, Netherlands.
Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Chairman of the European Jewish Associatio thanked the more than 25,000 people who watched the livestreamed event across the globe. He deplored that the evil that existed 76 years ago ‘’still exists today’’. ‘’In Europe, we see antisemitism on a dramatic rise,’’ he added, denouncing legislations banning Jewish customs such as shechita or brit mila.
‘’There are more Jews in Europe that believe that they won’t live here in 10 years from now that those who believe that they will not be here,’’ he said.
‘’Not in my watch must not be just a slogan. It must always be a real commitment.’’
He continued: ‘’There are people who think that there is no vaccine against antisemitism and that there is no choice but living like that. This is not the truth. There is a vaccine against antisemitism. It also comes with two shots: the first one is through education and the second one is by showing zero tolerance towards expressions of antisemitism wherever it appears.’’
Rabbi Margolin thanked all leaders in Europe ‘’for the measures you will take to strengthen education against antisemitism, to ensure zero tolerance and to ensure that freedom of religion can continue.’’
