Europe Marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day
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International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2013

  •   Europe Marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day
  • 2/13/2013
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    Photo: European Union, 2013

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    Marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Vice-President and Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Ms. Viviane Reding hosted a commemoration event at the European Commission on January 28, 2013. Ambassador of Israel to the European Union, Mr. David Walzer, and former French Justice Minister Robert Badinter also spoke at the event. The ceremony featured an exhibit about "Room 28", the quarters shared by Jewish girls who were deported to the Teresinstadt Ghetto, as well as a recital of songs sung at the Ghetto.

    In her address to the audience, Commmissioner Reding thanked those who came for their participation in the event and reminded those in attendance why they were there, to remember those who perished in the Holocaust. She noted that, "Never again should future generations of Europeans have to experience what they experienced".

    Ambassador David Walzer spoke personally and on behalf of the State of Israel. In his remarks, he called for "the EU to appoint a special envoy for the Holocaust, a person who will act with the vision to expose, deepen and implement lessons learned from the "Shoah", and see it as his mission in life to make sure that it never happens again". He mentioned that many Europeans and Israelis do not need a Holocaust remembrance day, they simply need to look at their family trees and see which members perished in the horrific atrocities of 70 years ago.

    January 27 is the date, in 1945, when the largest Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by Russian troops.