The International Holocaust remembrance Day is dedicated to the memory and reflection on one of the greatest tragedies in the history of humankind, Romania's President Nicusor Dan said on Monday in a message on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the memory of the victims of the anti-Jewish legionary pogrom in Bucharest.
"The International Holocaust Remembrance Day is dedicated to the memory and reflection on one of the greatest tragedies in the history of humanity. It is the day when humankind remembers the incomprehensible suffering of fellow human beings. The Nazi regime sacrificed six million Jews on the altar of racial hatred, along with numerous other victims considered unworthy of the fundamental right to life. On January 27, 1945, with the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, history was confronted with the odious face of Nazi totalitarianism, showing us the collapse that anti-Semitic discourse had caused in the heart of civilized Europe. This commemoration reminds us, in a painful way, how precious freedom, human dignity and the guarantee of fundamental rights are, as well as the importance of defending them at all costs. History calls us today to revisit it, in order to better understand the lessons, not as an abstract exercise, but as a duty of conscience," according to the presidential message delivered at the Choral Temple in Bucharest by state adviser Raluca Butnaru at a ceremony dedicated to the International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the memory of the victims of the anti-Jewish legionary pogrom in Bucharest organized by the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania.
According to the president, the commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust becomes all the more relevant in a world where collective memory seems to be fading, and extremist movements are on the rise.
"The new generations no longer have the patience to delve into the past, while human suffering is once again gaining momentum amid conflicts, global crises and the erosion of trust. This year marks the 81st anniversary of the end of World War II and the end of the Holocaust. In these last eight decades, generations have been born that have tried to understand the tragedy of a planned genocide and to answer the questions it raises today. How was such a moral gulf possible in twentieth-century Europe, and what must we do to make sure that such a tragedy never happens again? These are two essential questions, between which is an entire journey that has led us from war to peace, from a deeply divided world to a United Europe, built under the sign of democracy, regained dignity and hope."
The President underscores that Romania continues on this path alongside other European nations, joining the effort to raise awareness of the tragedy of the Holocaust, by educating young people and condemning extremist movements, attempts to denigrate the Holocaust and falsely rewrite history.
"That dark past of the Antonescu dictatorship regime should not be forgotten, as if it had not happened. Today, knowing the magnitude of those tragedies, we have the capacity to discern and legally penalise the reactivation of symbols, gestures and deeds and ideologies responsible for the death of innocent people. By remembering each of those sacrificed lives, we understand more deeply the human frailty and how great the price of hatred is, as a constant exhortation to remain vigilant and to no longer accept (...) the banality of evil. Along with the commemoration of the victims of the Nazi camps and of the anti-Jewish legionary pogrom in Bucharest, in January 1941, we pay tribute to the survivors and, at the same time, we are standing in solidarity with those who fight to keep alive the lesson of freedom, resistance in the face of persecution and death."
According to Dan, each generation has the duty to remain lucid in the face of tyrannical slippages of power, to condemn anti-Semitism in all its forms, to denounce indifference and cowardice, to refuse complicity in evil, to prevent oblivion.
"Let us remember," says the Jewish prayer. "Never again" affirms our conscience, those of us who refuse to forget the suffering of people, not only of the Jews, but of the entire community and humanity. Preserving the memories of those tragedies thus becomes a form of justice through which the truth about what happened is known and passed on, with faith in a better world, governed by peace, but above all courage and truth. May their memory, of all the victims of the Holocaust, be blessed!"
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