27 January 2023
Mr. Secretary-General, Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Some of us in this room know the horrors of the Holocaust better than anyone.
Survivors of that immense tragedy and their family members understand better than anyone why we must preserve its memory.
And not just the memory of the ghettos, the deportation, the camps.
The remembrances of all those whose lives were taken by senseless hate.
The memory of those you knew. Those you loved. Those you lost. And those who could only live a tortured life when it was over.
And the memory of those who helped Jewish families in the darkest days, when it was not without risks to provide shelter and protect. Like my grandfather and grandmother.
It is my honour to welcome you all here today – in this institution, and in a hall, that was built to ensure that no one would ever see what you or your family had to see.
Yet, this year has begun amid new waves of antisemitism and Holocaust denial across the world.
Like poison, they seep into our everyday lives. We hear them from politicians, we read it in the media.
We have seen pop culture leaders, whose massive reach can influence and enflame millions at the touch of a button, making antisemitic remarks and spewing hate.
Deliberate denials and distortions of basic facts threaten the human rights of all around the globe.
“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous,” Primo Levi once wrote. “More dangerous are the common men – the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.”
The exhibit “Unmask the Stereotypes” on the ground floor offers a startling insight into how stereotyping, prejudice and hate led to the Holocaust.
The hate that made the Holocaust possible continues to fester.
And we can no longer ignore the clear links between extremist ideologies spreading hate online and their real-life consequences.
With conflicts, wars and atrocity crimes that continue to devastate nations and communities, we have to push back against the tsunamis of disinformation crashing about the internet.
This is a responsibility that must be translated into action.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
During the Holocaust, people outside the camps could not believe what they were hearing.
But when the Sonderkommando photographers risked their lives to capture the horrors of Auschwitz, when they smuggled the hard evidence of the atrocities out of the camp –
The world could no longer deny what was happening behind the barbed wire.
Let us share their commitment to veracity. Let us channel their resolve. And let us reach for peace and justice for all.
Thank you.
Toda Raba. Shalom Elichem. [Hebrew: Thank you. Peace be upon you.]
