Message By Volker Türk For The International Day Of Commemoration In Memory Of The Victims Of The Holocaust On 27 Jan

Geneva, 24 January 2025

On this day 80 years ago, some 7,000 prisoners in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camps were liberated by Allied soldiers.

Exhausted, emaciated, terrified, and sick, those 7,000 were all that remained of 1.3 million men, women and children who had been deported to Auschwitz. They in turn were a small part of the six million Jews, the Roma and Sinti, people with disabilities, gay people, and so many others who were persecuted, hunted, and killed by the Nazis.

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, we bear witness to the darkest, most monumental of crimes. We honour the victims, we pay tribute to the survivors, and we remember that the world vowed never again to allow such atrocities to be unleashed on humanity.

To paraphrase Primo Levi, the celebrated writer who was one of the prisoners freed from Auschwitz 80 years ago: It happened, therefore it can happen again, and it can happen anywhere.

Commemorations like this one acknowledge the past. They must also examine the present and look to the future.

Today, hateful rhetoric is reverberating across much of our world.

Antisemitism is rampant, on our streets and online. Jews face increasing intimidation, threats and physical violence.

All too often, discrimination and dehumanisation are winning out over solidarity and compassion; diversity is viewed as a threat rather than something to be treasured; and many leaders are undermining and weakening the rule of law.

I fear that we are sleepwalking into a grim future where human rights and dignity are denied, stripped away or forgotten.

Holocaust Remembrance Day must jolt us from this stupor. It is a wake-up call to the dangers of indifference, complacency and apathy.

And it reminds us that we have a duty to stand against intolerance.

We can never be silent when confronted with cruelty or suffering. For, as another Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel said: “Silence encourages the tormentor.”

Antisemitism is very often the canary in the coalmine – the early warning of crimes and atrocities to come. We must condemn it in all its forms – together with bigotry, intolerance and hatred – and take action to prevent it.

We must fight for dignity and human rights – the guiding theme of this year’s Holocaust Remembrance.

That starts by being vigilant; by condemning the dangerous manipulation of language; by exposing disinformation and resisting all attempts to create fear or incite hatred.

And we must celebrate diversity.

The Holocaust stands as a terrifying monument to hatred, and it is the ultimate warning against the dangers of identity politics. We must retell its stories, so that we never forget. Holocaust education is one of the best vaccines against prejudice, dehumanisation and racism.

So let us remember the victims and survivors. Let us honour those who shielded the persecuted.

And let us work together to build a shared, peaceful, just and dignified future for all.

To watch the High Commissioner’s video message, please click here: https://vimeo.com/1048529060/d2716a847f

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