Honorable Mister Chairman, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentleman,

Allow me on behalf of the Macedonian delegation and in my own name to thank the host country, the Kingdom of Sweden and His Excellency, the Prime Minister Goran Persson, for the hospitality extended and the contribution given for the successful and efficient work of the International Forum on the Holocaust, the Conference on Education, Remembrance and Research.

To the initiators and organizers of this International Forum I would like to give recognition and respect for the successful definition of aims and tasks of the Conference, which are indicated in its name. The education is necessary especially for the young generation, to prevent the repetition of such events as the Holocaust, ethnic cleansing and similar atrocities against the humanity. The memories have to be preserved and maintained so that they can continually remind us and warn on the dangers of such crimes. The research than is necessary for the honoring of the innocent victims of the Holocaust and final punishment of the still living criminals, as well as for definitive setting the historical assessment of the Holocaust as a crime without precedent in the history.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The are numerous facts and proofs indicating that on the territory of Macedonia the Jews are present for more than two and a half millennia. I would like to stress that during this long period of joint existence there have been no signs of intolerance, hatred or ethnic conflicts noted between the Macedonians and the Jews. Unfortunately, during the Second World War, 57 years ago more correctly, 7.144 Jews from the territory of the present day Republic of Macedonia (mainly from the cities of Skopje, Bitola and Shtip) were deported and in the cruelest way liquidated. It is important to indicate at this that the Macedonians had in way any participation in the apprehending and deportation of these Jews. This action was carried out by members of the Axis Powers, under which occupation at that time the Republic of Macedonia was.

A small Jewish community still exists today in the Republic of Macedonia, the members of which enjoy all human and civilian rights including the rights that belong to them as members of an ethnic community. There are a number of them that had the luck to survive the Holocaust. The younger members of this community, we may point out with pleasure, contribute significantly to the advancement of our state in science and culture and all of them in propagating peace and cooperation in the whole world.

A very small number of nations in the world have so a tragic history as it is the case with the Macedonian and the Jewish people. It has been noted in history that the Macedonians and the Jews were persecuted not once from their homes, denied their rights, removed from their lands, subjugated and destroyed. But still they did not only survive, finding motives, challenges and power to maintain their spirit, dignity and pride, but also succeeded in coming out of the pogroms stronger, more united. Neither the Macedonians nor the Jews ever retaliated the Atrocities, but they never forgot and shall not forget the atrocities. The best proof of this is this Forum.

The Jewish people undoubtedly, were the most tragic victims of the fascist madness. The Holocaust represents the most difficult moral cataclysm and the darkest page in the human history. Because of this, the memory of the Holocaust should remain as a permanent warning for what may happen if race, national, religious or ideologically based hatred prevails.

The international community has to consider what has happened to the Jewish people more than half a century ago and to find moral and political forces to prevent the appearance of such events in future. Numerous unpleasant events that have happened after the end of the Second World War in various parts of the world unfortunately indicate that the necessary lessons of the past have not been learnt yet, especially the one related to the Holocaust and similar atrocities. Thus at the end of the second millennium as a result of various genocidal activities, millions of innocent people lost their lives. Unfortunately in the last decade of this century,

Europe has been again faced with the occurrence of genocidal activities, for example the atrocities committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Croatia and Kosovo. The Republic of Macedonia, in difference from some of its neighboring states, has been determined for the policy of democracy and peace, namely the solution of problems through political dialogues, respect of the right to life for each of its citizens, for political and religious freedoms, for the freedom of speech and expression and respect for the human dignity irrespective of his/her ethnic, ideological or religious belonging. The past experience indicates that the respect for the above mentioned civilization achievements is an irreplaceable basis for the construction of maintenance of peace, avoidance of military conflicts, genocide crimes, ethnic cleansing and similar undesired events.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to note at this Conference that my country is fully in agreement and supports the efforts for the disclosing of all secret lists and archives of Jewish expropriated property during the Holocaust, and that we are ready to put at the disposal all of such documents that are found in its possession. I appeal to the delegations participating at this important forum to act in their respective countries towards the opening of state and private archives and to establish a closer contact with the International Group on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research.

I shall use this occasion to express the pleasure that the initiative started in 1996 for the construction of a Macedonian Holocaust Memorial Center in Skopje is soon to become a reality. This initiative is based on the common joint life, understanding and collaboration between the Macedonian and the Jewish people. The Memorial Center, which is to be built with joint efforts of the Macedonian state and the World Jewish Congress and active participation of the Jewish community in the Republic of Macedonia and the Macedonian-Israeli Society for Friendship and Cooperation, shall represent a temple of Holocaust education, remembrance and research, and an Academy on tolerance between the people will be active in it. The Memorial Center shall be built at the location of the former “Jewish Quarter” in the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, Skopje.

The Macedonian Government has very positively assessed the initiative for the restoration of the Jewish Cemetery and the monumental gate erected in 1497 in the city of Bitola, with the aim of renewing and preserving the memory of the culture, spirit and entity of the Jews in the Republic of Macedonia. As a state from the territory of which an enormous number of valuable cultural artifacts have been pilfered in the past, The Republic of Macedonia supports all efforts for the repatriation of all cultural heritage items that have been taken away in an impermissible manner from the countries of their origin. Starting from such a determination, the Republic of Macedonia shall support the corresponding Resolution that is going to be on the agenda of the United Nations General Assembly this year.

My country is very interested for the development of friendly relations and an overall cooperation with the Jewish State, Israel, as well as with the Jewish associations and institutions in other countries of the world and especially with the World Jewish Congress. As a country with its socio-political and economic systems in transition, the Republic of Macedonia is very interested for the experience, especially in the field of economy of the highly developed countries, among which, no doubt, we find Israel. I would like to point out that one of the main economic advisers of the Macedonian Government that I am heading is a Jew from Israel.

The winner of the prestigious award Golden Wrath of the Struga Poetry Festival in 1995 was the Israeli poet Yehuda Amihay. Expressing my gratitude once again I shall end my statement with the lines of the winner of that award, the Swedish poet Arthur Lundkvist, in the distant 1977:

“Where there is a wish the road opens,
where there is violence resistance is created,
where there is thirst sources open,
where there is a dream nothing is helpless”
Thank you for the attention.