Osmani: The Holocaust – a tragedy not to be forgotten
The Foreign Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, delivered an address at the commemoration on the occasion of 27 January – the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day of remembering and paying respects to more than six million innocent children, women and men, including 7.144 Macedonian Jews, who lost their lives in Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, and other death camps.
“It is our civilizational duty to fight, constantly and uncompromisingly, turning remembrance into action, against relativization of evil, distortion of history, denial of facts and the truth about the Holocaust. We have be vocal and say ‘NO!’ loud and clear – to antisemitism, racism, xenophobia, and other forms of intolerance”, Osmani emphasised. Speaking of the importance of the Holocaust, as a tragedy that must not be forgotten, and noting that today should not be the only day when we remember the Holocaust, Osmani stressed:
“We should all, both together and individually, work on spreading universal values, strengthening social cohesion, investing in education and youth, on developing and raising awareness about the value of existence and respect for all differences in a pluralistic society.”
The commemoration, which was held as an online event, featured addresses of the President of the Assembly of the Jewish Community in the Republic of North Macedonia, Mrs. RadojkaHelman-Denkovska, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mrs. Anke Holstein, the non-resident Ambassador of the State of Israel, Mr. Dan Oryan, as well as FahriHiseini, the coordinator of the regional project of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam “History – Lessons for the Present”, from the Youth Educational Forum in Skopje.
27 January is the day of liberation of the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenauconcentration camp, and with the United Nations Resolution of 1 November 2005, it has been designated as the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, which the Republic of North Macedonia, as responsible and respected member of the international community, has traditionally observed for many years.