The memory of six million Jews – men, women and children – who died during the Holocaust is sacred! The Holocaust was the time when atrocities met with impunity and the world plunged into chaos. For Jewish people the Holocaust is not just a historical event, but an enduring human pain, the memory of the past, of human sacrifices, of material and spiritual losses. This is a page of Jewish history that we can never turn, a terrible tragedy that must be remembered in order to avoid its repetition.

However, even today we see the attempts to revive the cult of hatred. Hotbeds of anti-Semitism continue to erupt despite the bitter lessons of the World War II. Jews around the world face manifestations of anti-Semitism. The rhetoric of hatred is reflected in oral and written forms, despite all the attempts to eradicate it: Jews are attacked on the streets, their synagogues and cemeteries are desecrated. We have a responsibility to continue to fight these dangerous phenomena.

The acceptance of the anti-Semitism definition, as formulated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), by all the states and international organizations can be a significant step in the fight against anti-Semitism and racism. There is no place for hatred and anger in the modern society, and we must do everything possible to prevent a new potential round of violence. Peace and prosperity will never come in a world where basic human values are violated, and therefore it is our people, who survived a terrible tragedy that must guard these values.

At the end of last year, the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress adopted a Resolution calling to oficially adopt the working definition of anti-Semitism, as well as condemn the attempts to rehabilitate those involved in the crimes of the Holocaust. The resolution calls on the authorities of the countries of the region to adopt the necessary legislative acts prohibiting the rehabilitation of collaborators and the silencing of their crimes. We are convinced that glorification of persons involved in such crimes leads to a significant increase of anti-Semitic sentiments, phenomenon, we are trying to eradicate.

On the International Holocaust Remembrance Day we must say once again no to anti-Semitism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and any intolerance, as well as remember those who lived, survived and died in inhuman conditions, fought the enemy and won, saved other people’s lives by exposing themselves to mortal danger. May their memory be blessed!