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| You are here: 2000 / Opening Session: Messages and speeches / Message by the President of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel | |||||||||
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Message by the President of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel Havel, Václav Message by the President of the Czech Republic at the Ceremonial Opening Your Majesties, Presidents, Prime Minister, Distinguished quests,
Tomorrow we shall commemorate the day, fifty-five years ago, that witnessed the liberation of the concentration camp at Oswiecim - a site of suffering and tragic death for thousands of human beings. It is my conviction that the tragedy of the Holocaust victims must be remembered again and again, among other reasons, because its last surviving witnesses are still with us. No one but they can convey to us a first-hand historical experience teaching us that every act of racism, or of intolerance towards minorities, may be the beginning of an onslaught on the very foundations of human civilization. Behind every manifestation of prejudice towards the Roma, and behind every anti-Semitic remark, there is an encoded threat of transports and gas chambers. The awareness of the fact that the Holocaust, through its tragic aftermath, still affects the life of society today was the starting point for the project Holocaust Phenomenon, launched in the Czech Republic under my patronage. The objective of this undertaking is to fill the considerable gaps in our knowledge about the tragic moments in our own past, especially about the Holocaust of Jews and of the Roma; to extablish a discussion across society concerning those events; and, to help the younger generation to understand the Holocaust as a part of our history. But the Holocaust is not only a subject to be taught. Its victims are still alive, and must not be forgotten - because their experience is a warning to us all. It is our obligation to give these survivors our attention and care; to relate to them; to listen attentively to what they tell us. Their voice must be heard by those who will shape the civilization of the third millennium. >> Back to top |
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Introduction Opening Session: Messages and speeches
Workshops, Panels and Seminars Closing Session and Declaration Other Activities |
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| For information about this production and the Stockholm International Forum Conference Series please go to www.humanrights.gov.se or contact Information Rosenbad, SE-103 33 Stockholm, Sweden | |||||||||