The Embassy of Israel and the United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) held a
ceremony on the UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 29, 2019
at the UNCC.
January 27 is the annual UN International
Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day of commemoration of the victims of the
Holocaust, in honor of six million Jews and five million people of additional
groups, who were brutally murdered by the Nazis.
Holocaust
happened more than 70 years ago but hatred, intolerance, massacre and horrific
incidents are still taking place around the globe. The Remembrance ceremony serves as a commitment
to do everything to prevent the repetition of such horrific incident in the
future.
The ceremony started with the speech by Israeli Ambassador H.E. Dr.
Meir Shlomo who also lit the first candle in memory of the victims. Other dignitaries who delivered speeches were
the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany H.E. Mr. Georg Schmidt, the
Ambassador of Denmark H.E. Mr. Uffe Wolffhechel, and, Mr. Chihiro Sugihara,
grandson of Mr. Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat who saved thousands of
Jews in Lithuania during WWII.
The ceremony also included a video message from the United Nations
Secretary-General Mr. António Guterres, and, a message from H.E. Dr. Teerakiat Jareonsettasin, Minister
of Education. During the ceremony, there
were music interlude by students from the College of Music, Mahidol University. An exhibition about the
Holocaust was displayed to provide information to the audience.
This year is
the 75th anniversary of the rescue of the Jewish Community by the
People of Denmark. During the darkest
time in human history, when Jews around Europe faced intolerance and hatred,
those in Denmark were proud of their Jewish identity. The Danish not only stood by the Jewish
community but also rescued the majority of their Jewish countrymen, by hiding
them in their small fishing boats and sent them to safety in Sweden. What the
Danish people did for their Jewish compatriots was a bright light of humanity
and morality in sea of darkness.
While the Holocaust was commemorated in ceremonies around the globe, it was
unfortunate that last Friday a member of a famous BNK48 band appeared in a rehearsal
wearing a shirt with Nazi Swastika symbol without being aware of its
significance. Today, Member of BNK48 attended the Memorial Ceremony in order to
gain more knowledge of the Holocaust. The group agreed to the Ambassador of
Israel’s idea to lead educational activities for the young generation in
Thailand. As Ambassador Shlomo said in his speech during the ceremony: “did mankind
really learn the lesson? The only real antidote to this hate is education,
education and education”.
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