Ban Ki-moon roept op tegen ontkenning van Holocaust, antisemitisme en intolerantie

Meer dan 6 decennia nadat 6 miljoen joden, bijna een derde van het totaal, en talloos veel andere minderheden werden afgeslacht in de nazi-Duitse Holocaust, is het meer vitaal dan ooit om te leren van deze tragedie om verdere gruwelijkheden te voorkomen.


De verklaring van de secretaris-generaal van de VN

Ban calls on world to fight Holocaust denial, anti-semitism and bigotry

Over six decades after 6 million Jews, nearly a third of the total, and countless other minorities were butchered in the Nazi German Holocaust, it is more vital than ever to learn from the tragedy to prevent further atrocities, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned today.

“We must continue to examine why the world failed to prevent the Holocaust and other atrocities since. That way, we will be better armed to defeat anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance,” he said in a message marking the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

“We must continue to teach our children the lessons of history's darkest chapters. That will help them do a better job than their elders in building a world of peaceful coexistence. We must combat Holocaust denial, and speak out in the face of bigotry and hatred.”

Mr. Ban noted that new initiatives in Holocaust remembrance and education have given an authentic basis for hope, which is the theme of this year’s observance, the fourth since the General Assembly instituted the annual commemoration.

“But we can and must do more if we are to make that hope a reality,” he stressed. “We must uphold the standards and laws that the United Nations has put in place to protect people and fight impunity for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Our world continues to be plagued by ruthless violence, utter disregard for human rights, and the targeting of people solely for who they are.”

The UN marked the day with a ceremony at its New York Headquarters, panel discussions and other events, including an initiative by the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) called the “Footprints of Hope,” which brings the global network of the UN Information Centres together with local schools to further youngsters’ understanding of the Holocaust and their respect for human rights through documentary and film resources.

General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto echoed Mr. Ban’s call to the world to learn the lesson of the Holocaust. “We need to move beyond our statements of grief and memory, however powerfully felt, and work to develop new ways of thinking about the Holocaust, about genocide, about the apparently bottomless capacity for peoples’ cruelty to each other,” he said in a message.

“That capacity is shared by all of us. At their core, all genocides, all holocausts, start with the alienation, demonization and the marginalization of the “Other” – those citizens of another religion, another race, ethnicity, another set of political ideas, or another sexual orientation than our own,” he added, calling for a struggle against intolerance and for relationships that replace “us and them” with “we and ours.”

(VN: 27 januari 2009)

Zie ook:
Ban Ki-moon: “Holocaust leert belangrijke lessen voor vandaag”

Ban Ki-moon: “Holocaust leert belangrijke lessen voor vandaag”

Voor de herdenkingsdag voor de slachtoffers van de Holocaust heeft secretaris-generaal Ban Ki-moon van de VN opgeroepen tot vertrouwen in de waardigheid van de mensheid en geloof in morele kracht tussen de zwarte hoofdstukken in de geschiedenis.

De Holocaust was een systematische vervolging van joden door de nazi’s en hun bondgenoten tijdens het Duitse bewind van Hitler. Er werden ongeveer 6 miljoen Europese joden vermoord.

Ook andere groepen werden om het leven gebracht, zoals homoseksuelen, zigeuners, “economisch onwaardigen”, Polen, gehandicapten, Jehova’s getuigen, politieke tegenstanders, vrijmetselaars, communisten, Spaanse republikeinen, etnische Polen en Serven en mensen die zich verzetten tegen de nazi’s.

In 2005 riep de Algemene Vergadering van de VN 27 januari uit als gedenkdag voor de Holocaust. Op 27 januari 1945 werd het vernietigingskamp Auschwitz bevrijd. Dit was een van de concentratiekampen waar de nazi’s mensen om het leven brachten.

De verklaring van Ban Ki-moon:

Holocaust has vital lessons for today, says Ban

The Holocaust provides important lessons for the present, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, stressing the necessity to bolster the forces of harmony and dialogue.

In an address to mark the International Day of Commemoration honoring victims of the Holocaust at the Park East Synagogue in New York, Mr. Ban said that during a recent visit to the Middle East, he saw first-hand the suffering of both Israelis and Gazans.

"I said to all I met, on both sides: This must stop," he stated.

"I left the region more determined than ever to work toward a world where two States , Israel and Palestine , live side by side in peace and security. War can never be an answer," the Secretary-General added, stressing that "we need to strengthen the forces of peaceful coexistence and dialogue."

Mr. Ban stressed the need for frankness and for the recognition of the limits of power and goodwill.

"We here know that we can never entirely rid the world of its tyrants and its intolerance. We cannot turn all extremists to the path of reason and light," he said. "We can only stand against them and raise our voices in the name of our common humanity."

Paying tribute to the synagogue's Senior Rabbi Arthur Schneier and the late United States Congressman Tom Lantos, both of whom are Holocaust survivors, the Secretary-General called for the reaffirmation of "our faith in the dignity of humankind and our extraordinary resilience ? our moral strength ? even amid history's darkest chapters."

In 2005, the General Assembly designated 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, as the International Day.

Next week, the United Nations will commemorate the fourth Day through panel discussions, exhibits and plays.

(VN: 24 januari 2009)

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