President Dacian Ciolos
“On this Holocaust Remembrance Day, we all have a duty to remember the victims, their families and the darkest part of our past. History should not be forgotten.
We don’t just have to “never say that again”, we deLet us create day after day the conditions so that such a tragedy does not happen again, by fighting tirelessly against hate speech and for the deepening of the European project, a project of peace and respect for human values. Our collective memory must guide us to make the best decisions today and in the future. ”
Nicola Beer
“This year, the pandemic prevents us from traveling to places of commemoration. But it does not prevent us from mourning the victims of the Nazi regime and keeping the memory alive
Let’s create new ways of commemoration and protect those who share their experiences with us.
Let’s bring back into the centre of attention issues of Looted Art and the protection of Jewish cemeteries.
Let’s defend the right of survivors to live a life in dignity and make confiscated property completely recovered or compensated.
Let‘s fight antisemitism wherever and in which form it might occur. To make sure: NEVER AGAIN!”
Maite Pagazaurtundúa
“On this day of remembrance, we also honour those who risked and lost their lives trying to liberate Jews in Hungary. Hanna Szenes, a member of the British Secret Operations Executive parachuted into Yugoslavia in 1944 and joined a group of partisans to save Hungarian Jews who were about to be sent to their deaths. At the Hungarian border, she was arrested by Hungarian gendarmes. She was sent to prison, stripped, tied to a chair and finally executed.”
Laurence Farreng
“Visiting concentration camps is a hard and indispensable experience, which reinforces the obligation to be uncompromising with all words, all anti-Semitic acts and all hateful acts. I had the honor of participating last year in the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz with a delegation from the Renew group. I was struck during the ceremony by the energy of the survivors, their commitment to transmit History, their history, to the youngest. The fight goes there, by educating all European citizens about history. Even today, we must not be able to say that we did not know. ”
Morten Petersen
We must never forget. The Holocaust Remembrance Day has to be exactly that — a day to remember. An occasion to remember the atrocities committed and remind us all that we shall work together in order to avoid it happening again. Democracy and respect for human rights can or should not be taken for granted. So let’s use this Remembrance Day to remind us that we have to fight for democracy — every single day.
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