International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust

Please stand with me as we observe a minute of silence in honour of the victims of the Holocaust.

Ambassador Leshno-Yaar
Ambassador Elgar
Mr. State Councillor [Moutinot]
Mr. Representative of the City of Geneva [Pagani]
Distinguished panellists
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Today, we remember and we pay tribute to the millions of Jews and others – innocent women, men and children – who perished in the Holocaust as victims of the Nazi barbarism. We reflect on the inconceivable: that fellow human beings were systematically exterminated, simply because of their origins and of who they were.

We face the reality that the inconceivable did happen and that it can therefore happen again, in different forms and manifestations and with different victims. And we recognize our responsibility for ensuring that it does not. We are grateful to be able to do so together with Mr. Schlomo Venezia, who lived through the tragedy, and with Ms. Shulamit Imber and with Cédric and Jonathan Bollag who help to pass the torch of remembrance so that the memory never fades, but continues to guide our conscience and our actions.

As the number of survivors dwindles, education becomes an indispensable way to pass on the important and inescapable lessons of the Holocaust, and for fulfilling our responsibility. We just watched footage from the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet soldiers in January 1945. When I grew up, the liberation of the camps was part of the curriculum at school. It left a lasting impression. By spreading the truth about the camps, this education urged all of us to look at our own behaviour to others, and to understand the consequences of hate and prejudice. It taught us how each one of us could help make our communities stronger and safer.

Throughout the world, education is the necessary response and rebuke to those who deny or diminish the scale of the atrocities of the Holocaust. We must continue to strengthen education to combat distortions of history and to protect the dignity of the victims. Only with education can we – as individuals and as the human family – stand up to hatred, bigotry, and intolerance, wherever and whenever they occur. Because denials of fundamental rights are not just facts of history; they are current events. We must act decisively in the face of violations of shared values and principles.

Today, we pledge to remain united in our resolve to ensure that future generations will never again experience the horrors of the Holocaust. We reject and condemn all forms of discrimination – on whatever basis. Today, we promise to heed the warning that comes to us from the victims and the survivors so that we never again let evil prevail. This is the only way to pay homage to the victims and to safeguard their legacy.

May they rest in peace.

Thank you.