Secretary-General Marks International Day in Memory of Holocaust Victims amid Resurgent Antisemitism, Vowing ‘We Will Never Forget’

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message on the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, observed today:

On this Day, we come together to remember one of the most heinous crimes of our time:  the systematic killing of 6 million Jewish men, women and children and millions of others by the Nazis and their collaborators in the Holocaust.

We pledge that we will never forget.  We vow to tell their stories and honour them by defending everyone’s right to live with dignity in a just and peaceful world.  Seventy-five years ago, the liberation of the death camps ended the carnage but horrified the world, as the full scope of the Nazis’ crimes became clear.

Out of these horrors, the United Nations was created to bring countries together for peace and our common humanity, and to prevent any repetition of such crimes against humanity.

The resurgence of hatred in recent years, from violent extremism to attacks on places of worship, shows that antisemitism, other forms of religious bigotry, racism and prejudice are still very much with us.  Seventy-five years on, neo-Nazis and white supremacists are resurgent, and there are continued efforts to diminish the Holocaust and deny or downplay the responsibility of perpetrators.

But just as hatred persists, so must our resolve to fight it.  Today and every day, we commemorate the victims of the Holocaust by pursuing truth, remembrance and education, and by building peace and justice around the world.