“It is our duty to condemn and prevent any intolerance against people based on ethnic origin or religion,” a Holocaust survivor told a special session of the UN General Assembly on Monday.
The event, marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, included speeches by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, as well as by Holocaust survivors Irene Shashar and Shraga Milstein.
Milstein, who survived the Bergen-Belsen death camp, said, “The Holocaust is not only a historical event without proportions but also a guide to personal choices in present day life.”
“Those of us who survived this atrocity and people of good will across the world firmly believe that it is our duty to condemn and prevent any intolerance against people, based on ethnic origin or religion,” he declared.
“We must never forget the lesson of the Holocaust,” Milstein urged.
Guterres spoke of the first Allied soldiers who witnessed the aftermath of the Holocaust, saying, “Seventy-five years ago, when soldiers entered Auschwitz, they were stunned into silence by what they saw.”
“It is our duty to learn the lessons of the Holocaust so it is never repeated,” he implored. “The most important lesson is that it was not an aberration. It was a culmination.”
Danon spoke about the fact that Holocaust survivors were swiftly passing away, saying, “As the decades go by, it becomes harder for us to remember. … We are the last generation to have the privilege of learning about the Holocaust from those who had to endure its atrocities.”
“When memory starts to fade, so does the ability to believe that an event like the Holocaust really occurred,” he said. “It becomes harder to believe the human race is capable of such evil.”
Danon also drew a parallel to contemporary antisemitism, saying, “The leaders of the world may have denounced antisemitism, but that is all they did. That wasn’t enough. It is not enough to condemn antisemitism. It is time to act against antisemitism.”
“Antisemitism is a deadly disease that must be eradicated,” he added. “We must find a cure for those affected by it today, and we must vaccinate our populations so that no one will have to suffer its fatal consequences in the future.”
The Algemeiner (c) 2019 . Benjamin Kerstein
{Matzav.com}
