A very warm welcome to you all.
I feel both honoured and humbled to welcome you to the EESC for this event. Honoured because we are remembering individuals and communities and humbled by the magnitude of sorrow that our history has brought. Humbled also because of the tsk we have to learn from the past to create a more unified future.
On international Holocaust Remembrance Day it is important that we all take time to reflect. A time to reflect with fellow citizens and to work together for the future. This year we also mark the 70th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
The EESC has joined with the European Parliament, CEJI - A Jewish contribution to an Inclusive Europe, and the European Jewish Community Centre (EJCC) in organising this event. I would like to thank our co-organisers for an excellent cooperation.
It is good to see so many gathered here today to pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and we give a particular welcome to some of the survivors who are with us. They provide us with a direct link to this – the darkest of the darkest – chapter in the history of humanity.
We cannot and must not shrink from the reality of the holocaust. We need to keep this reality and our history before us to increase our determination to combat discrimination, intolerance and racism and move to understanding the absolute value of each individual human being. I also believe that the European Union has been a factor in this. Great strides have been made but we still have a long way to go and the EU has a key role to play in facing down attempts to diminish civic and humanitarian values. In this education plays a vital role.
It is important that we recognise and take some comfort from the overwhelming response from the general public in Europe after the recent events in France was one of unity in defying the forces that try to tear down and divide. There is a will to co-exist peacefully in Europe, to affirm our commonalities and differences and to see them as enriching our communities which we must foster against any tide of discrimination. We must never justify barbaric acts, loss of freedoms or erosion of accepted fundamental rights.
I now pass the floor to Robin Sclafani who will moderate the debate this afternoon. Before doing so, however, I would like to warmly welcome our guests in this panel who will share their experiences and present good examples of the role of education in overcoming racism and intolerance. The commemorative ceremony will take place at 6.30 followed by the opening of the exhibition.
We must journey with hope and with conviction to challenge any dark forces which might threaten our unity.
My thanks and good wishes
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