​On November 1st 2005, the United Nation General Assembly adopted a unanimous resolution on Holocaust Remembrance and Education, designating January 27th, the day of liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, as the “International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the holocaust.” This resolution, authored by the camps’ liberating countries and Israel, has become a landmark. Since then, every year, on or around January 27th, people all over the world gather to remember; to remember and never forget. To remember and learn the lessons, so that atrocities committed during the holocaust never happen to anyone, at anytime, anywhere.

Let me start by commending the remarkable work done by the UN Outreach Program, led by the Outreach Division at UN Headquarters. I would also like to recognize the United Nations Information Center here in New Delhi, as well as embassies, missions, institutions and individuals for being here today. And a big thank you to Alliance Française, for your annual hospitality which is so important.

Commemorating the holocaust, remembering its victims and learning the lessons of the holocaust, take place world-wide. Because of their universal message, such activities should, and do, take place anywhere around the world, including in a country like India, where Jews never suffered from anti-Semitism or persecution.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
We must never forget the atrocious acts committed by the Nazis during the Second World War. We must never forget what man was capable of doing to its fellow man. The systematic murder committed during the holocaust, the Shoah, is incomparable in its magnitude, in its methods and in its malice. Its aim, defined as the “Final Solution”, was to attempt to systematically annihilate a whole people. It is the biggest tragedy, the single lowest point of mankind, and we must be mindful never to repeat it. Never Again.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thankfully, even in those dark times, men and women of incredible courage and moral strength who thought differently, rose against the tide and acted. These individuals risked their lives, and often the lives of their loved ones, to protect neighbors and strangers from the Nazis. After the war, these were named the Righteous Among the Nations. חסידי אומות העולם

During the war, many countries failed to protect the Jews, the Roma, the disabled, the homosexuals, the communists and the many others who perished at the hands of the Nazi death machine. But rather than being discouraged, rather than saying “if my country and society have failed, what can I possibly do?”, these bold men and women decided to assume personal  moral responsibility.

The Righteous Among the Nations were, and remain, a beacon of light in an otherwise dark chapter of history. They believed that we all have both a collective and a personal responsibility to protect lives, and they acted accordingly saving thousands of lives.
They took on the creed that we are all “our brother’s keepers”. We can all learn from their courage and their actions, when it would seem they had every reason not to act. They knew that if they would not stand up for those being persecuted today, one day they could be next.

To quote part of the famous poem by Martin Niemöller:
“First, they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”

As we commemorate the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we should remember both the evil and the good. Of the six million who were murdered in the holocaust, every person had a name. For every life saved by 26,000 thousand Righteous Among the Nations, it is as though an entire universe was saved.

As we remember the stories of the victims, let us also remember Church Leader Metropolitan Chrysostomos and Mayor Lucas Carrer in Greece who refused to give the names of the Jews on their Island to the Nazis. Let us remember Irena Sendler, a Social Worker who helped smuggle Jews out of the Ghetto in Warsaw. Let us remember Johanna Eck, a widowed nurse who sheltered Jewish children in her apartment, or should I say, consecutive apartments, in the heart of Berlin.

When asked about her motives, Johanna Eck said: “If a fellow human being is in distress and I can help him, then it becomes my duty and responsibility… Human beings – so it seems to me – make up a big unity; they strike themselves and all in the face when they do injustice to each other. These are my motives.”

Let us take these words as a lesson, both for ourselves today and for future generations. We must learn from these paragons of hope that we must not stay silent as ruthless horrors take place around us.

This year, the UN has is marking the day with a special focus on “Educating for a Better Future”. I believe activities held throughout the world and our program here today accomplish that goal two-fold: learning from the horrors of our past while taking an example from those who would give us hope. Thank you all for joining us this evening, let us remember together and never forget.