‘Breaking Down Barriers Among, Between Nations ‘As Complex As It Is Essential’,

Secretary-General Says in Message to Centro Primo Levi Symposium

 

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to “The West and the Rest” Symposium, organized by the Centro Primo Levi, delivered by Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information:

Primo Levi was an exceptionally perceptive observer of the human condition.  Yet his laboratory, his main source material — the Nazi death camps — was forced upon him by virtue of his being a Jew and a member of the Italian resistance.  Through his own strength — but also, as he himself admitted, with the help of luck — he not only survived, but turned his ordeal into unforgettable stories and insights for the ages.

Levi’s premature death was a tragedy for us all.  We missed him when, less than a day’s drive from his home in Turin, wars in the Balkans brought us scenes and crimes we thought Europe had left behind.  We missed him through the horrific mass violence in Rwanda.  We missed him through the re-shaping of the international landscape.  We miss him to this day.

What would he have made of our world — of the technological advances that might have engaged his chemist’s mind, or the injustices that might have enraged his sense of human dignity?  We will never know, but as we continue to look closely at his work, we find ample relevance for our times.

I welcome the wonderful efforts of the Centro Primo Levi to circulate Levi’s works around the world, from the Middle East to Japan and Korea.  Cross-cultural understanding, which is at the heart of the Centro’s work, is one of the great challenges of the twenty-first century.  Promoting harmony and breaking down barriers among and within nations is as complex as it is essential.

Bringing Levi’s work to new audiences can help people overcome stereotypes.  It can penetrate national filters that often obscure brutal and sometimes unacknowledged histories.  It complements changes in educational curricula and in methods of teaching that aim to nip prejudice in the bud.  And it sends an important message:  that when it comes to unlearning intolerance, there is room for all societies to study not only the past and present experiences of others, but their own.

The United Nations is strongly committed to this work.  Our Holocaust outreach programme works closely with civil society, educators and the media.  Our special advisers on the prevention of genocide and the responsibility to protect seek to heighten our vigilance for the precursors and signs of grave crimes and violations of human rights.  The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations initiative promotes intercultural understanding through youth exchange programmes and media partnerships. 

As we continue the fight against hatred, racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of xenophobia, we draw inspiration from the work of Primo Levi.  Please accept my best wishes for the success of your symposium and your efforts to spread his wisdom far and wide.

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For information media • not an official record