“The Girls of Room 28, in Remembrance of the Children
of the Theresienstadt Ghetto”

Ambassador Zappia
Ambassador Manor
Ambassador Sequensová
Ms. Pollak-Kinsky
Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am pleased to welcome you to the opening of this important exhibition, in memory of victims and in tribute to survivors of the Holocaust. My thanks to the Permanent Delegation of the European Union and the Permanent Missions of Israel and the Czech Republic for bringing this deeply moving exhibition to the Palais des Nations. My thanks also to the curator, Ms. Hannelore Brenner, and to Ms. Helga Pollak-Kinsky, whose diaries inspired this project. Ms. Pollak-Kinsky, it is an honour to have you here this afternoon. It is also an honour that you will be joining us tomorrow for our official observance of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.
Your story, and the stories of all the girls of Room 28, are striking. They are striking in their emotion – testaments of friendship, of joy, of pain, of loss. And of the horror of the Holocaust – an unbearable weight carried on the shoulders of children.

The Holocaust and the determination to prevent genocide and wide-scale human rights violations from ever happening again played a formative role in defining the ideals and objectives of the United Nations: Peace and security, development and the protection and promotion of human rights.

Unfortunately, we continue to see violence taking on dangerous dimensions – in Syria, South Sudan and the Central African Republic. We all have a responsibility – governments, individuals and the international community alike – to fight against intolerance and the manipulation of religious or ethnic differences. And to create and support laws and institutions that protect people and defend human rights.

The activities of the international community in Geneva are central to these efforts - one reason why I am proud to host this exhibition here – promoting tolerance and passing on the lessons of the Holocaust. To further these goals, UNOG will be signing on Wednesday a cooperation agreement with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, to digitize portions of the League of Nations Archives related to this history.

We have the unique opportunity today to re-live the experience of the Girls of Room 28. To go inside their room, to see their artwork and diaries, and to hear their stories in their own voices.

This exhibition is both a tribute to those who perished and a testament to the strength of the human spirit. I hope that it will also serve as a call to all those who pass through these halls to work collectively to protect human rights, fight against intolerance and to promote a shared vision of equality and peace.

Thank you very much.