Statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the OSCE Permanent Council (22 January 2015)

Mr. Chairperson,

Allow me to thank the distinguished speakers for their interesting statements about international Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Having lost almost one in three of their compatriots during the Second World War, the people of Belarus have always identified with the grief of the Jewish people. The Holocaust was a tragedy shared by Belarusians and Jews.

From 1941 to 1944, a number of large and small ghettos were created on the occupied territory of Belarus, including the Minsk ghetto, one of the largest in Europe. It painted a harrowing picture: 100,000 people lived together in just a few streets surrounded by barbed wire. It was here that the fascists began to put into practice their doctrine of systematic extermination of the Jewish people. Jews from Germany, Austria, Poland and other countries were transported there for deportation to the extermination camps.

At Trostinets death camp near Minsk, the fourth largest in Europe, more than 206,000 people were exterminated, including Jews from the Soviet Union and European countries.

At the risk of their own lives, Belarusians saved tens and hundreds of Jews from certain death. In recognition of their heroism, 711 Belarusians were awarded the title “Righteous Among the Nations”.

Much is being done in Belarus to preserve the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The Yama [pit] memorial has been erected on the site of the Minsk ghetto. Last June, in the presence of the President of the Republic of Belarus and high-ranking representatives of the State of Israel, the foundation stone was laid for a memorial to those who died in Trostinets death camp.

Mr. Chairperson,

We cannot but be disturbed and concerned by the fact that aggressive nationalism, neo-fascism and neo-Nazi ideology are once again raising their head today in the OSCE region. We are seeing the glorification of Nazism, propaganda and the cultivation of racism, anti-Semitism, and incitement to xenophobia and religious intolerance.

In paying tribute to the victims of fascism, we must take a stand against all manifestations of this type and not tolerate the slightest distortion of the truth about the greatest tragedy in recent history.

The 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War reminds us of the need for the international community to pool its efforts to ensure that it is completely immune to the virus of Nazism and its manifestations.

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.
 

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