Remarks at "Auschwitz: The Depth of the Abyss"

Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen
Dear Friends:


We come together this evening to pay our respects to the victims of the Holocaust. These stark and harrowing images are difficult to look at. But they speak to us more clearly than words ever could. The suffering of the victims etches itself onto our consciousness so that we can never forget. Even when we find it hard to face the gruesome illustrations of the Holocaust, we need to remember. We need to see – to feel – the depth of the abyss to ensure that we do not descend into it again.

Today, we also have the privilege of having with us survivors of the Holocaust. The victims came from different countries and backgrounds. They were ordinary women, men and children. They were like us. Acts of genocide do not merely happen to “others”. We must never be complacent when acts of barbarism take place. We must speak up and act whenever and wherever we witness cruelty and violation of human rights. If not, our indifference, or our collective inability to act, will aid the inhumanity.

60 years ago, the United Nations was founded on the human family’s collective commitment to ensuring that the horrors of the Holocaust would never re-occur. We owe it to all the victims of the Holocaust – and victims of other acts of genocide – to honour this commitment.

Thank you very much.