International Holocaust Remembrance Day
The president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), Ronald S. Lauder
WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS + + + PRESS RELEASE + + + 27 JANUARY 2011
Intl. Holocaust Remembrance Day: World Jewish Congress leader Ronald Lauder
praises German President Christian Wulff for giving Shoah remembrance top
priority
NEW YORK / BRUSSELS - The president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC),
Ronald S. Lauder, is today accompanying German President Christian Wulff on
his visit to the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. "On
International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Jewish community and the
survivors of the Shoah welcome the fact that President Wulff - who has only
been in office for a few months and has already been to Israel - is visibly
giving the issue of the Holocaust remembrance such a high political
priority. Clearly, Germany's political leaders have learnt the lessons of
the past, but much remains to be done throughout Europe to keep the memory
of the darkest chapter in history alive, in order to prevent a future
Holocaust," Lauder declared ahead of the ceremonies in Auschwitz and
Birkenau.
Wulff 's official delegation also comprises several Holocaust survivors, the
leaders of Germany's Jewish community, and members of parliament. Together
with his Polish counterpart, President Bronislaw Komorowski, Wulff will
visit the International Youth Meeting Center at Auschwitz.
Ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January), Lauder
declared: "Auschwitz is the largest Jewish cemetery in the world. Auschwitz
is where the systematic annihilation of European Jewry was refined and
perfected. It is where four gas chambers and four crematoria annihilated
more than a million Jews. It is the place where the notorious SS 'doctor'
Josef Mengele conducted cruel medical experiments on people. It is also the
place where thousands upon thousands of Poles, Roma and Sinti and Soviet
prisoners of war were brutally murdered alongside the Jewish victims.
"We owe it to all of them, and to the survivors, to make sure that today's
anti-Semites and hatemongers - those who want to destroy the Jewish people
and its only refugee, the Jewish nation state Israel - will not get another
go at it. In many countries, it has become fashionable in certain
intellectual quarters to liken Israel's defensive actions against attacks by
Hezbollah and Hamas to those of the Nazis. It seems to be chic to hold
Israel to a higher standard than any other country in the world and to blame
the Jews again for everything that goes wrong. And yet: remembering the
failures and atrocities of the past should have consequences for our actions
today, and one of them is to protect Israel," Lauder added.
About the World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress is the international organization representing
Jewish communities in 92 countries around the world. The WJC serves as the
diplomatic arm of the Jewish people to governments, parliaments and
international organizations.
www.» worldjewishcongress.org
