27 January 2006:

61st Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz– 1st International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Survivors of the Nazi extermination camps, among them Roman Kent, Vice-president of the IAC from New York, commemorated the 1st International Holocaust Remembrance Day together with representatives of the United Nations in New York.
“ Remembrance is the necessary rejection to all those who deny the holocaust or claim that it is exaggerated”, said Kofi Annan, Secretary of the United Nations, in a video message which was presented at the festive event of the United Nations.
“ We have to make still greater efforts to prevent genocide and all crimes against humankind, the Secretary General urged. Since he was not able to attend the ceremonial event in New York, Kofi Annan and his wife Nane commemorated the Holocaust Remembrance Day in Zurich at a meeting with Auschwitz survivors and young people from the International Auschwitz Committee.
Nane Annan is the niece of the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who, during World War II, had saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from Nazi persecution.
“ I’m glad, that on this day I’m together with representatives of the International Auschwitz Committee which works in so many ways to keep holocaust remembrance alive”.
After his discussion with the Auschwitz survivors, Kofi Annan, in a talk with journalists, referred to the late uncle of his wife Nane: “Why were there only so few Wallenbergs”? Where were the others?”
“ We all bear responsibility to assure the protection of the society and of the individual”, he said.
Mr. Annan stressed once again that the holocaust must never be forgotten, nor denied. He warned of any self-satisfaction, in the face of openly demonstrated hatred: “There are fanatics who deny that the holocaust ever happened, and this must be countered”. The Secretary General warned: “We experience racism and the humiliation of other people every day. It always begins with humiliation and discrimination, with the exclusion of other people, and before you really get aware of it, this exclusion has achieved an inconceivable extent.”
On behalf of the International Auschwitz Committee, Raphaël Esrail, IAC Vice-President from France and General Secretary of the French Union of Auschwitz Deportees in Paris, stated: “At present there is not only anti-Semitism in Europe, but also a climate of xenophobia. What really matters is, people must not be humiliated. Humiliation is the worst thing to be done to a human being. What we will pass on to the youth is the following: “Be curious, think carefully, make up your own opinion, and learn from our history”.

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