On Monday, 27 January 2020, the Embassy of Israel joined the UN in Ghana and the Embassy of the Republic of Germany in Accra to mark the 2020 International Holocaust Remembrance Day under the theme; “75 years after Auschwitz: Holocaust Education and Remembrance for Global Justice”.
In her statement, H. E. Shani Cooper called on Ghanaians to make sure “the manifestation of anti-Semitism, the hatred for Jews just because of their religion, will not show its ugly face in Ghana.”
She called on Ghanaians to join the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and adopt its definition for anti-Semitism to make the world a better place for all.
The German Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Christoph Retzlaff, recalled “75 years ago, the concentration camp of Auschwitz was liberated and the world began to fully understand the full scale of the horror of the Shoah.
He expressed that “this is why our attitude must be one of Zero-tolerance when facing anti-Semitism – especially in Germany, but in Europe and the world as a whole.”
“Never again embark on a path that pits one country, one people against another and preaches that our victory can only grow from the defeat of the other. This is also your responsibility as the young generation,” he added.
The United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mrs Sylvia Lopez-Ekra, observed that the resurgence of hatred in recent years, from violent extremism to attacks on places of worship, showed that anti-Semitism, other forms of bigotry, racism and prejudice were still very much prevalent.
She added “just as hatred persists, so must our resolve to fight it.”
Members of the diplomatic community, state officials, members of civil society organizations, the media and schoolchildren attended the event to commemorate the day. As part of activities to commemorate the day, we screened a documentary, which featured Oscar Groning as the Accountant of Auschwitz who went on trial, as an accessory to the murder of 300,000 people 70 years after World War II. There was also an exhibition to highlight some facts of the Holocaust.