Statement Recognizing International Holocaust Remembrance Day

(Washington, DC)  —  On November 1, 2005, rejecting any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part, the United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution (A/RES/60/7) condemning “without reserve” all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief, whenever they occur.

As a result of this resolution, today we recognize the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp as an annual International Day of Commemoration to honor the victims of the Holocaust.

“Today we remember the 7,000 Jews who were liberated from the Auschwitz death camp exactly 64 years ago, and we remember the millions more who died at the hands of the Nazis before the liberation troops arrived,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz.

“At the beginning of this month, I led a Congressional Delegation to the Middle East where we visited Yad Vashem and laid a wreath at the stone crypt containing the ashes of Holocaust victims, brought to Israel from the extermination camps. Memorials such as these serve as a powerful reminder of the deadly consequences of intolerance and the importance of speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves. As Elie Wiesel said in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, ‘I swore never to be silent whenever, wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation… Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

“In this sense, I am pleased to note that the theme of this year’s commemorative events is ‘The Legacy of Survival,’ which emphasizes the universal lessons that survivors will pass on to succeeding generations. As a Jewish Member of Congress from South Florida, home to the second largest population of Holocaust survivors in North America, it is of utmost importance to me that we honor all of those who endured the Nazis’ systematic killing of human life by passing on their stories and legacies to our children and grandchildren.

“With fewer survivors alive to tell their stories, we simply cannot keep repeating ‘never again’ – we must absorb the lessons of the past and speak out against hatred. Oppression and genocide are still alive and well, and as long as they are, we must take these lessons, this legacy, and allow it to inspire us to fight against the deadly evils of hatred and oppression present in our communities, nation, and world.”