Holocaust Remembrance Day: Statement by the High Commissioner

Today, we remember and honour the victims of the Holocaust. The six million Jews. Roma and Sinti people. Slavs. People with disabilities. LGBTI people. Prisoners of war. And the members of anti-Nazi networks across Europe whose voices of resistance were forever silenced.

Auschwitz-Birkenau – where brutal and abhorrent crimes were committed – was liberated 78 years ago today.

It is an acutely painful day of remembrance as we recall the deep abyss of torment, heartache and human suffering.

This year, we reflect on the theme of ‘home and belonging’ - two notions of safety that were callously destroyed by the state-sponsored, widespread ideology of hatred, persecution and murder perpetrated by the Nazi Party and their collaborators.

Home and belonging forever transformed as millions faced deportation and incarceration.

Home and belonging gone as they were tortured and murdered.

But amidst the horrors, I am moved by the countless stories of resilience and courage.

From the victims who forged deep friendships with others in the concentration camps.

To the individuals who bravely risked their lives to share their homes and shelter people in hiding.

To the survivors of the Holocaust, who rediscovered beauty and meaning in life after enduring the worst of humanity. Who built families, careers and futures in the face of profound trauma. Who reestablished the sense of safety, home and belonging that had been ripped away from them.

Emerging from history’s darkest hours and healing from profound pain takes extraordinary strength.

As a child born in post-war Austria, these events shaped me and whole generations. Our world perspective was permanently imprinted with the horrors that happened just kilometres away.

But we also found hope. This year, we mark the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document conceived in the aftermath of these heinous crimes.

A document that captures the determination of a generation that suffered the devastation of two global wars and the Holocaust.

A commitment from leaders the world over that justice, respect for human dignity, equality and rights are crucial to enduring peace.

A promise driven by the call to prevent another Holocaust and to reaffirm the concept of human dignity.
The world said “never again.”

Yet anti-Semitism continues to escalate, with increasing attacks and violence against Jewish communities around the globe. Online and offline, hate speech is intensifying.

And the ongoing Holocaust denial and distortion of facts – the attempted rewriting of history - deeply undermines the suffering of generations.

I welcome the Holocaust denial resolution adopted last year by the UN General Assembly, a crucial milestone in the fight against anti-Semitism.

Now, as ever, we must also invest in education, the most important antidote to any form of intolerance and xenophobia. I join the General Assembly’s call that societies be educated truthfully about the facts of the Holocaust.

Today – in their memory - and in the face of rising xenophobia, intolerance, racism and racial discrimination - I call for a united and steadfast commitment to reject any attack against humanity that may lead to genocide.

We cannot erase the horrors of the Holocaust, but we must stand together against hate now and in the future.

We owe nothing less to the victims and the survivors.