Statements
Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information of the United Nations
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends
My name is Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information of the United Nations. It is my honour and privilege to welcome you to the third annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
We will begin tonight’s ceremony with one minute of silence in honour of the victims of the Holocaust. May I ask you all to please rise.
[Minute of silence]
Thank you.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to offer a special welcome to the hundreds of Holocaust survivors, many of whom have travelled great distances, to join us here this evening.
Today, we gather to remember and honour the victims, the survivors, and all those who fought against the forces of evil, during one of the darkest chapters in our common history, the Holocaust.
This evening, we focus on the theme of “Civic Responsibility and the Preservation of Democratic Values”. As we recall, the breakdown of democratic values under the Nazi regime led to widespread discrimination and the elimination of basic human rights. This year, the world marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and it is no coincidence that tonight we underscore the primacy of human rights.
At the mid-point in tonight’s programme we will hear a message from our keynote speaker, United States Congressman Tom Lantos, himself a Holocaust survivor and a champion of human rights. Unfortunately, the Congressman’s health has prevented him from being here tonight. His daughter, Ms. Katrina Lantos Swett will instead read his message to us on the critical importance of tonight’s theme. Mr. Lantos is a long-time friend of the United Nations, and we offer him our best wishes for a strong recovery.
As you may be aware, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is presently in Rwanda, a country which experienced a horrendous genocide only 14 years ago, and which tragically serves as yet another reminder of the need to educate citizens about the dangers of hatred and bigotry. The Secretary-General is unable to be with us here this evening, but he recorded this message for us before leaving New York.
[VIDEO MESSAGE]
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon]
Our first speaker this evening is the custodian of this august hall in which we meet – the President of the 61st Session of the General Assembly, His Excellency Dr. Srgjan Kerim. Mr. President...
[Statement by President of the General Assembly (2 minutes)]
Thank you very much, Mr. President, for those inspiring words.
I am pleased to introduce our next speaker, His Excellency Ambassador
Daniel Gillerman, the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations.
[Statement by Ambassador Gillerman (2 minutes)]
Thank you, Ambassador Gillerman, for your powerful message.
Now let me introduce the young men and women behind me. We are honoured to be joined tonight by the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music Symphony Orchestra from Tel Aviv University. The Buchmann-Mehta School of Music Symphony Orchestra was founded in cooperation with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, and is conducted by Maestro Zubin Mehta. We are grateful to Mr. Josef Buchmann for helping to bring these talented young musicians to the United Nations.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music Symphony Orchestra, and Maestro Zubin Mehta.
[Concert]
[Intermission, keynote address]
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The two pieces we have just heard capture the emotions of hope, remembrance and internal reconciliation, fitting thoughts for this solemn evening.
I am honoured now to introduce tonight’s keynote speaker. Although he is unable to join us this evening, his record and his tireless work to advance human rights deserve to be honoured.
Congressman Tom Lantos is the chairman of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Relations, and the co-founder of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. Having served in Congress since 1981, Congressman Lantos has been a leader in the fight against antisemitism, the protection of human rights, and a vocal supporter of congressional action against bigotry, racism and discrimination. He is the only survivor of the Holocaust ever elected to the United States Congress. I am delighted that he has prepared a message for us tonight from his unique perspective on the importance of “Civic Responsibility and the Preservation of Democratic Values”.
Following Congressman Lantos’ message, Cantor Itzhak [It-zak] Meir [Mayor] Helfgot, of the Park East Synagogue, will recite two memorial prayers. After the Cantor’s recitation of the prayers, this evening’s musical performance will continue with Beethoven’s – Symphony No. 5.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my distinct privilege to invite Ms. Katrina Lantos Swett, his daughter, to the stage.
[Ms. Swett delivers speech]]
[Second half of concert beings]
***
Statement by the President of the General Assembly, H.E. Srgjan Kerim
Your Excellency Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon,
Under-Secretary-General Akasaka,
Distinguished Congressman Lantos,
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests,
Maestro Zubin Mehta, and all members of the Buchmann-Mehta Orchestra all the way from Tel Aviv University.
It is with great honour, that I welcome you to the General Assembly, the amphitheatre of the world - a witness of cooperation and confrontation; understanding and ignorance; coherence and difference among Member States.
But still, we all have something in common – our conscience and consciousness. This must guide us, not only in remembering the sins of deeds done by one people to another, but also in our vision to create a world of tolerance, solidarity and common sense.
The Holocaust fed man’s ego with delusions of supremacy, and tried to erase the bonds that all human beings share. We must spare no effort to ensure that we never again witness such evil.
Globalisation doesn’t only mean the evolution of communication, technology, and economy; it must also lead to the evolution of global consciousness.
An evolved mindset immune from any evil thoughts of genocide, crimes against humanity or even crimes based on mental degradation.
We should all be aware that our thoughts become words; words become deeds; deeds become habits; habits become our character; and our character becomes our destiny.
Today, is therefore more than a commemoration; it is more than a remembrance; it must serve as a call to action in honour of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust.
Who better than Holocaust survivors can recount the absurd and unconceivable atrocities against humanity, committed in an era and based on an ideology of hatred and insanity; but to make the nonsense even greater masked itself in the guise of the “Űbermensch”.
I would like to pay tribute to Congressman Tom Lantos and to all survivors, whose courage and perseverance have ensured that the traumatic lessons from the Holocaust have fortified our collective conscience.
In their honour, today let us evoke - through solemn reflection of the past – an inspirational vision of conviction and hope for a better future.
We each have a singular goal that we should make our life’s mission – to watch and awaken our own consciousness - and in doing so create a better, more just and equal world.
It is incumbent upon all of us, Member States and all members of society, to embrace our interdependence, and realign the ethical compass that will allow us to transcend our differences.
Therein lies the new culture of international relations based on human rights, human security, the responsibility to protect and sustainable development. Achieving this must be our lasting legacy to future generations.
Thank you.
Secretary-General's message for the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, to be observed on 27 January:
Today, we mark the third International Day in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. On this day of observance, unanimously proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, we stand in solidarity with Holocaust survivors and victims’ families around the world. To those who claim that the Holocaust never happened, or has been exaggerated, we respond by reiterating our determination to honour the memory of every innocent man, woman and child murdered at the hands of the Nazis and their accomplices. We mourn the systematic genocide of one third of the Jewish people, along with members of other minorities, which deprived the world of untold contributions.
But it is not enough to remember, honour and grieve for the dead. As we do, we must also educate, nurture and care for the living. We must foster in our children a sense of responsibility, so that they can build societies that protect and promote the rights of all citizens. We must instil in them a respect for diversity before intolerance has a chance to take root, and a sense of vigilance in case it threatens to do so. We must give them the courage and tools they need to make the right choices and to act in the face of evil.
This year gives us a special opportunity to do that, as we commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Throughout this anniversary year, the United Nations will strive to bring the concept of “Dignity and Justice for All” to people everywhere. The campaign reminds us that, in a world still reeling from the horrors of the Holocaust, the Universal Declaration was the first global statement of what many now take for granted: the inherent dignity and equality of all human beings.
Let us never take our human rights for granted. Let us uphold them, protect them, defend them, ensure that they are a living reality -- that they are known, understood and enjoyed by everyone, everywhere. It is often those who most need their human rights protected who also need to be informed that the Declaration exists, and that it exists for them.
Today, we remind people everywhere of those rights. We remember those whose rights were brutally desecrated at Auschwitz and elsewhere, and in genocides and atrocities since. We vow to apply the lessons of the Holocaust to our lives and to those of succeeding generations. On this International Day of Commemoration, let us rededicate ourselves to this mission.
Statement by Ambassador Daniel Gillerman Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations
Thank you very much, Mr. Under-Secretary.
Minister Attias,
Mr. President,
Survivors,
Fellow colleagues, Ambassadors,
Thank you. Thank you so much for sharing this momentous occasion with us. I am always immensely proud to represent Israel in this building. Each and every day when I walk the halls and corridors of the United Nations, be it at the Security Council or the at the General Assembly, I walk with my head held up high knowing what a wonderful country and a wonderful people I represent.
But tonight, tonight, I am also very proud to be a member of the United Nations family, because the United Nations is doing something which is invaluable. Over two years ago, it did adopt a resolution which made January 27 forever after international Holocaust Remembrance Day. But unlike many other resolutions, this one lives on. The United Nations teaches the lessons of the Holocaust. The United Nations has the outreach programme which reaches out all over the world. And today the United Nations even together with Israel launched a joint stamp, which is called “Remembrance and Beyond”, a stamp which will be a small ambassador at the top of each envelope going all around the world.
But tonight is more than just about the launching of a stamp or the continuation of a living resolution. And tonight is more than just about remembrance. Tonight is about victory. It is about the victory of good over evil, it is a victory of culture over ignorance. It is a victory of the spirit.
And in that spirit, I would like the Holocaust survivors or descendants of survivors in the audience to rise so that they can be recognized.
Thank you.
I would now like to demonstrate the victory we are celebrating tonight and commemorating tonight. All those years ago in the 30s and 40s, those evil forces of darkness tried to destroy not just a people, and not just a religion, but a culture as well. They destroyed intellectuals, they destroyed scientists, they destroyed musicians. Each one of us asks himself each and every day, how many more noble prizes would there be if these people were alive? How many more medical inventions would there be if these people had survived? We also ask ourselves, how many more symphony orchestras would there be if they were with us today?
Well, the orchestra symphony you have on this stage today is a direct answer to that. It was established by Holocaust survivors, primarily by Yoselle Buchmann, who is in the audience and with whom this evening would not be possible. It includes Israeli youngsters who come from nearly 20 different countries, among them also second and third generation descendents from Holocaust survivors, and I would like those in the orchestra who are descendents of Holocaust survivors to rise please.
This is our answer. This is our victory. The music continues and the spirit continues. And instead of talking about it, I want to demonstrate it to you with a very small personal story. We have in the audience today a gentleman by the name of Walter Loerbs. He was in Dachau, he survived Dachau, he came to the United States, and towards the end of the war went back to Europe with the Allied forces. His wife Erselle, hid throughout the war in a small apartment, on the same street, just next door, to where Anna Frank was living. I would like those two people to come up to the stage now.
Well, that’s not the end of the story, because this is about remembrance. And we are talking beyond. The Loerbs eventually also had children, and a lovely granddaughter named Julia, who eventually five years ago made aliyah, went to Israel, and is here today too. But not in the audience. She is a viola player with the orchestra you are going to listen to tonight, and I would like Julia to join her grandparents right now.
This, my friends, is victory. And I promise you from this podium, that just as I am sure that if the State of Israel had existed all those years ago there would have been no Holocaust, now that there is a Israel, and there always will forever be an Israel, there never will be one again.
Keynote speech delivered by Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, on behalf of her father Congressman Lantos (D-CA), Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs
My father wanted very much to be with you today. He sends his greetings, and looks forward to watching this event online when it is posted to the Web. Today he has asked me to serve as his voice; and these are my father’s words.
Thank you, Kiyo Akasaka, for your generous introduction. I would like to extend my special thanks to my friend Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon for arranging this commemoration, a combination of the somber and the sublime that reflects the spirit of remembrance with which the United Nations annual commemoration of the Holocaust was conceived just over two years ago.
We all owe a great debt of gratitude not only to the Secretary-General, but also to his predecessor and my father's friend, Kofi Annan, for his stewardship of the process that brought us to this day. Were it not for their wise and principled leadership, the United Nations still might not have a day set aside each year to reflect on a prolonged nightmare in history that the world vowed never to forget – but some are trying to erase from memory. Annette and I owe our lives to Raoul Wallenberg. During the Nazi occupation, this heroic young diplomat left behind the comfort and safety of Stockholm to rescue his fellow human beings in the hell that was wartime Budapest. He had little in common with them: he was a Lutheran, they were Jewish; he was a Swede, they were Hungarians. And yet with inspired courage and creativity he saved the lives of tens of thousands of men, women and children by placing them under the protection of the Swedish crown.
As a youth in the late 1930s and early ‘40s, I witnessed and experienced the deliberate de-legitimization of millions of Jews, proud and patriotic citizens of countries such as Austria, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Slovakia. As momentum gained in the campaign to demonize and de-legitimize these citizens, and later to strip them of their very humanity, the psychological climate of the Holocaust was being prepared – culminating in the gas chambers of Auschwitz, where I lost my mother.
Two generations after the Holocaust, I never thought – I could not even have imagined – that within the structure of the United Nations there would be some who would attempt to de-legitimatize the Jewish State, the State of Israel, founded and built by the remnants of European Jewry and by the hundreds of thousands of Jews expelled from Arab lands.
Worse still, just as an earlier dictator pledged to destroy the Jews of Europe, so a new one is threatening to destroy the Jewish State. It is the responsibility of the entire world community, long-joined by Germany and its fellow former members of the Axis in the Second World War, to prevent another Holocaust, wherever it may occur, and to keep the memory of the killing of six million Jewish people alive as the State of Israel faces constant attacks, and must fight each day for its very survival.
There are many engaged on the other side of that fight, and not only in the Middle East. The very chamber where this evening we commemorate humanity’s recovery from the horrors of the Holocaust is too often the setting for shameless invective against Israel. I am deeply grateful for the numerous principled statesmen of many lands who regularly stand up against this outrage. Their vigilance, like all of ours, must be unceasing.
This point was driven home to me in the bizarre setting of Durban, South Africa, the weekend before the September 11th attacks. The United Nations was holding a conference meant to put an end to racism, a noble goal if ever there was one, but the occasion was hijacked by hate-filled and venomous leaders who perverted the noble idea of ending racism, and turned the conference into a lynch mob against Israel
.
As the situation galloped toward the surreal and the gathering veered away from its intended topics of ethnic violence, racism or slavery in many countries and toward condemnation of the one democratic state in the Middle East, it was sadly evident to me that this potentially history-making conference was becoming a travesty. Having experienced the horrors of the Holocaust firsthand, this was the most sickening and unabashed display of hate for Jews I had seen since the Nazi period.
I called our then-Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and related what we had seen at this debacle in Durban. The Secretary asked me and Annette to lead a walkout. Hundreds of media from around the globe told the story. It was a powerful moment in U.S. diplomacy, a righteous defense of our principles and priorities on what turned out to be the eve of a vile attack against all that we stand for.
Over that weekend, I returned to Washington where, on Tuesday morning, I was briefing a group of distinguished Americans about Durban when halfway through my talk the Twin Towers were hit. The news sickened me and others in that room, first and foremost because of the tragic loss of innocent lives, and also because we knew this attack was meant to cut our country to the core, to make us question ourselves and our values, and to shake our very foundation as a united and free people.
As an American by choice, I deeply value the fundamental values of the United States – among them, protecting basic freedoms, democracy and the rule of law. That is why in 1983 I co-founded the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, to encourage my congressional colleagues to fight for fundamental human rights across the globe. The people of the Soviet Union were under tyrannical rule. So we began holding briefings and other public events to call attention to Soviet oppression, and to engender action that could help hasten its end. Since then, the Caucus, in a totally bi-partisan way, has involved itself in a great variety of issues concerning people all over the globe. We struggle for the rights of Christians to practice their faith in Saudi Arabia and Sudan; we fight for Tibetans to be able to retain their culture and religion in Tibet; we advocate for the rootless, often-despised Roma of Europe. We try daily to implement Raoul Wallenberg’s message that human rights are indivisible and sacred.
Apart from the Caucus, my work often gives rise to legislation on behalf of human rights. I have spearheaded efforts in Congress to impose economic sanctions on governments that do not respect the human rights of their people, such as the ruling thugs in Burma and some of Iran’s leaders.
When I was elected to Congress 27 years ago, my first piece of legislation as a freshman member made Raoul Wallenberg an honorary U.S. citizen. Just after the war Wallenberg had been arrested by the Soviet troops who liberated Budapest and accused of being a spy for the United States. Nearly four decades later it was widely believed that he was still alive and in Soviet custody. Until then, honorary U.S. citizenship had been conferred only on Winston Churchill, so this unusual distinction had the desired effect: It put Wallenberg’s case in the international spotlight, and fueled the efforts to free him.
Sadly, the work to free him has been in vain. Raoul Wallenberg may have paid for his bravery with his life. But he provides an inspiring model of selfless courage that will always endure. His example will teach future generations the most important lesson of human history: In order to survive, in order to create more livable conditions in this world, we must accept the responsibility of becoming our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers – every one of them, and every one of us.
The people gathered in this vast hall where so much good has been done on humanity’s behalf know that already. On this day dedicated to one of the worst episodes in human history, let us rededicate ourselves to stopping current tragedies such as the genocide in Darfur – and there is no other proper word for this atrocity -- and to preventing such inhuman cruelty in the future. We must remember that the veneer of civilization is paper thin. We are its guardians, and we can never rest.
I want to thank you for inviting me here today to speak on this vital topic before such an august gathering, and I want to say that my wife, Annette, and I are living proof that the past can be overcome, but must never be forgotten.
I want to close my remarks tonight by sharing a story told about a wise Rabbi and his students. The rabbi asked his young followers this question – “How can one know the moment when the night has ended and the dawn has come?” One student responded, “Is it when a man walking through the woods can tell whether the approaching animal is a wolf or a dog?” The Rabbi shook his head no. Another student volunteered, “Isn’t it when a man walking through the village can distinguish the roof of his house from that of his neighbors?” Once again the Rabbi shook his head.
Then the Rabbi spoke: “The moment when you know that the night has turned to day is when you see the face of a stranger and recognize him as your brother.”
Let us pray for the dawn of that day.
This forum for individual scholars on the Holocaust and the averting of genocide seeks to raise issues for debate and further study. These writers, representing a variety of cultures and backgrounds, have been asked to draft statements based on their own perspective and particular experiences. The views expressed by private individuals do not necessarily reflect those of the
United Nations.