The Diplomat
The Old Session Hall of the Senate yesterday hosted, for yet another year, the State act for the Official Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity, during which the Vice President Carmen Calvo warned that “oblivion is a crime” against the victims of Nazism.
Spain established the Official Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity in 2005, in line with the United Nations General Assembly resolution and coinciding with the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, 76 years ago yesterday.
The event was chaired by the President of the Senate, Pilar Llop, who said during her speech that “neither denialism nor distortion of the Holocaust” should be tolerated because “the survivors demand that we do not forget” and it is necessary to “protect fundamental rights”.
For his part, the President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain (FCJE), Isaac Benzaquén, declared that it is “essential that the State and civil society promote educational policies to prevent anti-Semitism” and, for this reason, congratulated the Autonomous Communities of Madrid and Aragón for having introduced the study of Jewish culture into their respective educational curricula and confirmed that the Parliament of Andalusia already has on the table a Proposition of Law in the same direction.
Following the speeches by Henar Corbí on behalf of Diego Luis Fernández, director of the Instituto de Cultura Gitana, and Concepción Díaz Berzosa, vice-president of Amical Mauthausen, the six candles were lit in homage to the six million Jews and the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered by Nazism, to the other groups who suffered Nazi repression – Spanish Republicans, Gypsies, the disabled, homosexuals and Jehovah’s Witnesses – to the “Righteous Among the Nations” who risked their lives to save thousands of persecuted people, to the survivors of the massacres and to the preservation of the memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
The event concluded with a speech by the First Vice-President of the Government and Minister for Democratic Memory, Carmen Calvo, who, expressly addressing Holocaust deniers, assured that “it did happen, there was a full-scale massacre in Europe against Jews, gypsies, dissidents, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Spanish anti-fascists”. “There is no need for more words, we need to continue remembering, to continue thanking those who helped them, to continue keeping their memory alive”, because “forgetting is a crime” against the victims of the Holocaust, she said.
The event was also attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya; the Minister of Justice, Juan Carlos Campo; and the Director General of the Sefarad-Israel Centre and Head of the Spanish Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Miguel de Lucas.
