Remembrance Day: Juncker (EU), “honouring the victims of the Holocaust and resisting those who deny history”

(Brussels) “January 27^th is the day on which a historical event marked by pain and suffering is celebrated. On that day, 73 years ago, the Allied Forces freed the concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, putting an end to the horrors that had been committed in there. To commemorate such event, today we honour the memory of the six million Jews and all the other victims who died in the Holocaust. In addition, we pay tribute to all the people who survived the Shoah, such as the first President of the European Parliament, Simone Veil, who spent her life in the pursuit of reconciliation and who sadly left us last year”. This was stated by the president of the EU Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, to coincide with the International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2018. “2018 marks the 80^th anniversary of the “Reichspogromnacht” (the night of broken glass) as well as the 80^th anniversary of the enforcement of the racial laws in Fascist Italy. But 2018 also celebrates the 70^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was devised and drawn up with the horrors of the Holocaust in mind. This day must remind us – Juncker went on – that we must be wary of hatred, discrimination and dehumanisation. It is a day of resistance against those who spread lies about our history and who question the Holocaust or deny its meaning for today’s Europe. As Simone Veil reminded us of, the names and stories of the people we lost must be remembered, so they will not disappear again”.