 with her family to the Lodge ghetto where her parents and three siblings died of disease and starvation. Yehudid was eventually sent to Auschwitz and from there to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. On April 15, 1945, lying sick with typhus in the camp's barracks, she heard a commotion outside the sound of tanks crashing into the fence and then the voice of a British Army officer calling out and he said, my brothers and sisters, you have been liberated, the war is over, you are free, there are still Jews in the world. From the depth of hell of the Nazi camp, Yehudid lifted herself up. She came to Israel, she served in the Israel Defense Forces during our war of independence. She became a teacher, established a center to aid new immigrants and raised a beautiful family. I recently had the great honor of congratulating Yehudid on her 90th birthday. This was especially moving for me because the British officer whose voice Yehudid heard in Bergen-Belsen declaring that she was free was my late father, Chaim Herzog, of blessed memory. My father, who later became the sixth president of the state of Israel, was a World War II fighter in the British Army who took part in liberating Bergen-Belsen three months after the Red Army's heroic liberation of Auschwitz. My father related the terrifying scenes he encountered in Bergen-Belsen, scenes of barely clad human skeletons, death, raging typhus and starvation and smell, the most terrible smell one can imagine. These scenes shocked and shamed humanity. The result of the Nazi's genocidal anti-Semitic ideology and the willingness of so many people to stay silent and turn a blind eye was what caused this shame. They contributed to the creation of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, and of entirely new fields of humanitarian and international law. The nations of the world instituted this momentous international Holocaust Remembrance Day. They committed to the promise of never again and created institutions and legal norms to make that promise a reality. Ladies and gentlemen, though a great deal has been done, it is alarmingly clear that the 77 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the shock is unfortunately wearing off. We are seeing a surge in anti-Semitic assaults online, a normalization of anti-Semitic terminology in mainstream media, and an introduction of social media platforms refocused on true hatred to newer, younger audiences. We are seeing how the world's worst human rights violators are being elected to the United Nations human rights bodies. We see how radical regimes and even terrorist groups are distorting international law while some members of the academic and diplomatic community play along. We see the Atola regime in Iran calling for the annihilation of the only Jewish state, initiating terrorism against Jewish communities around the world and murdering civilians throughout the Middle East while some simply look the other way. We see how present-day radicalism and anti-Semitism are overlooked for economic and political gain. And perhaps most disturbing, we see how the truth about the past is trivialized and alternative facts are drowning out history. This is dangerous because in the 21st century the truth cannot sustain itself. It is our obligation to do so. Ladies and gentlemen, the Holocaust is not a disputed footnote in history. It is the most sickening assault humanity has ever seen. Commemoration of the Holocaust is therefore not a symbolic act. It is the duty of every person, every leader, and every nation across the globe. It is mine as it is yours. When we let our guard down and ignore our responsibility, the forces of hate quickly raise their ugly heads and become bolder. When we fail to strengthen our pledge of never again, we are disregarding our debt to our past and forfeiting our rights on our future. Friends, ours is the last generation privileged to hear a firsthand account from Holocaust survivors, from a partisan, from the righteous amongst the nation. In a few years' time, the duty to never forget will be ours alone. The obligation to tell our children's children about the horrors of the Holocaust, to warn them about the dangers of anti-Semitism, hatred, racism, and ignorance will be entirely up to us. So today let us reaffirm our commitment to remembering the lessons of the Holocaust together. Let us preserve the legacy of the Holocaust by showing zero tolerance for all forms of anti-Semitism, racism, and extremism, and by taking effective and timely measures to counter them. I call upon all nations to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of anti-Semitism, which states in the clearest of terms what hatred of Jews is all about. We must make it clear to all radical regimes that they will never be treated as legitimate members of the family of nations until they end their call for genocide and support of terror. We must not allow political considerations to mute our moral cause of duty and prevent us from speaking out when those who commit gross violations of human rights attempt to use the United Nations or other forms to hide or further their crimes. And we must expose and denounce any attempts to distort, rewrite, or forget what happened not so long ago. I want to thank Yad Vashem and its leadership and its chair, my friend Danny Dayan, for serving as a moral lighthouse, reminding us all of our responsibility to the future. As president of the State of Israel, I look forward to working with all of you to ensure that the Holocaust and its lessons are never forgotten and are passed down from generation to generation within this distinguished family of nations. Thank you. Thank you. Israeli President Isaac Herzog delivering his speech there at Yad Vashem. Next up soon we will have the Justice Minister Gidon Sahl to speak there as well. This is also we have some people there speaking via Zoom seen several different locations. Here he is, the Justice Minister Gidon Sahl speaking now at the ceremony. President of the State of Israel, my friend Isaac Herzog, Dr. Henry Foner, a brave and cherished Holocaust survivor, Chairman of Yad Vashem, my friend Danny Dayan, Honorable Ambassadors and Distinguished Guests. This week we marked 80 years since the infamous Vanzi Conference. On January 20, 1942, near Berlin, representatives from various Nazi government offices gathered to plan the implementation of the final solution for the Jewish question. The Nazis were determined to rid Europe of its Jews and exterminated 6 million of our people, men, women and children. But the Nazis did not act alone. The Shoah did not begin in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. The final solution did not begin at Vanzi. The Holocaust began with hostility, with incitement and lies. Such unchecked hate allowed Hitler to sweep through Europe, at first implementing discriminatory laws against the Jewish people, then forcing them out of society entirely, pining them up in ghettos and ultimately obliterating millions. Hitler constantly tested the boundaries of how far he could take his satanic plans. At no point, however, did he encounter any real resistance. Public officials, religious figures, intellectuals, scientists and academics, the entire European civilization, all violated the most fundamental human code to protect human life. The Nazi regime could not have executed its plan without deep widespread cooperation, cooperation built on years of unchecked hate and bigotry. A key lesson of those dark horrific years is the importance of combating hate, lies and extremism early on. Today we are sadly seeing a resurgence of antisemitism, hatred and bigotry directed toward the Jewish people. Around the world, we once again hear false claims against Jews. We see attempts to terrorize Jews, to take Jewish worshipers hostage, to murder Jews. And now we face a new kind of antisemitism. Realist efforts to slander Israel and deny the Jewish people the right to self-determination in our historic homeland. This new form of antisemitism has transformed from the delegitimization of the Jew to the delegitimization of the Jewish state. I am allowed to see the world turn a blind eye to modern-day antisemitism. Too many are willing to stand by as the hate only spreads. It is not enough to stand up against certain forms of bigotry and hatred and not others. Today, on International Holocaust Remembrance Days, all nations, all people who believe intolerance and the sanctity of human life must come together to fight hatred in all forms. I commend the recent adoption of the UN resolution on Holocaust denial and distortion. It is an important step in combating lies, hatred and the intentional distortion of history. Promoting Holocaust education must be a priority, and we know Yad Vashem is leading it. We not only have a duty to all of the victims and survivors to never forget, we also have a duty to ensure that the lessons of the past do not repeat themselves. Thankfully, the state of Israel has changed the existential condition of Jews everywhere. After 2,000 years of being persecuted and murdered, we now have the privilege of living in a sovereign Jewish state. We swore never again. Upholding this vow dictates that we never give up our right and our duty to defend our people by our own lives. Never again will the Jewish people be unable to protect themselves. Never again will the Jewish people have no place to go. Nevertheless, we cannot sit idly by as the level of antisemitic crime around the world reaches record levels or as radical regimes, prominent public figures and social media influences call for the annihilation of the state of Israel. As the United Nations General Assembly declared upon, establishing International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2005, I quote, the Holocaust must forever be a warning to all the people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice. Never again can we succumb to the total moral collapse of the 30s and 40s. We must all join forces to combat traditional and modern forms of antisemitism whenever and wherever they may appear in the worlds of the Bible. Remember what Amalek did to you along the way as you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they attacked you. Do not forget. We will never forget. And that was the Justice Minister Gidon Sahl speaking there at the special ceremony at the Yad Vashem Memorial Center in Jerusalem for International Remembrance Day. Also, there was a special event taking place today in Germany and Berlin at the Bundestag where the chairman of the Israeli parliament, Miki Levy, broke down in tears in a very emotional speech there. For more on that, we have with us again our Germany correspondent, Polina Garayaf, who we had to cut off there earlier. Sorry for that because to broadcast here the Israeli president and Justice Minister speaking at the other ceremony. So back to what happened today at the Bundestag. How was that speech by the chair of the Israeli parliament, Miki Levy, who broke down in tears? How was that received? And what are people saying on this day? This is definitely was a powerful moment that left an impact with everybody present and everybody watching. I was telling before that the Sidur, the Jewish prayer book that Miki Levy was reading from, belonged to a Jewish teen that used it in his Bar Mitzvah Jewish Rite of Passage right before Kristallnacht, the day where Jewish synagogues were destroyed all over Germany. And this prayer book was loaned to him by Yad Vashem. And it is a symbol of how the Jewish community in Germany that just last year celebrated 1700 years of Jewish history in Germany, how it managed to build itself up from the ruins, from the damage that is caused by the Holocaust and how it is now a part of Jewish society. And this is something that was also stressed during the event when the president of the German parliament, Belba Bass, spoke of the need to look inwards for every member of German society to look inwards and see if they harbor any sort of views that can be seen as anti-Semitic even if they don't realize it. So meaning that anti-Semitism is not only reflected in violent acts committed by the far right, the far left or those of Islamist motivation. It's also present in the very heart of society and the belief that being Jewish makes you somewhat a less member of society, somewhat less German. This is something that is present in also German society nowadays and expressed in conspiracy theories. It is expressed also in, we saw this especially in the last couple of years in demonstrations by opponents to Corona restrictions who either utilize the memory of the Holocaust or blame the Jews for the virus. So this is definitely speaks to the ongoing need to fight anti-Semitism. So in that sense, perhaps Germany is an example of what President Heltog was speaking of earlier, a country that perceives the act of remembrance is not a symbolic act, but more of a call to arms and a constant reminder that this is an ongoing battle that needs to be expressed not only in words, but also in deeds. Right. And he did speak to that very special relationship between Israel and Germany, how both people have been able to sort of grow since this disaster that was a disaster for the Jewish people and also a disaster for the German people in a sense of that they have to recover from that as the nation and with that stain on the country over the years. What do you make of where the relationship is now? There's a new chancellor in Berlin. He spoke very fondly there, Miki Levy of Angela Merkel and her role in the ties between the countries over 15 years. How are the relations between Germany and Israel now and where are they going from here? Well, of course, Angela Merkel is being credited with ensuring the fact that Israel's security and Israel's right to defend itself is so ingrained in a German political culture. And this is something that is bound to continue even though we're now seeing a different party in power. And Olaf Scholz has been also very vocal about this even before he was elected and after that he plans to continue this tradition. And he reiterated her famous statement that Israel's security is part of Germany's raison d'etat, meaning the state reason or part of its national interest. This is not something that is going to change even though, of course, the German government can be critical of Israeli policy at times and how to separate between Israel criticism and, of course, the fight against anti-Semitism is something that is an ongoing struggle. I'm not sure that German authorities are quite clear on how this can be achieved. So we recently saw the German parliament ban in some ways the BDS movement acknowledging that in its ideology it is a part, as Semitic, how to implement this decision on the one hand, but still allow criticism of Germany from activists, from members of society and also within its political discourse. It still remains to be seen, but in its policy, in the views of its politicians and in its foreign policy, as the whole Germany, of course, stands by the side of Israel. Thank you very much there, Polina Garayev in Berlin and Germany for that. Now our international affairs correspondent Owen Alterman is with us in studio in Tel Aviv. So Owen, an important day internationally in the remembrance of the Holocaust. How do you think, where is sort of anti-Semitism now in the world, especially in the U.S. and Europe where we've seen in the last few years several high-profile cases? Of course, some of it also has to do with the fact that the media is always on top of this and with social media everything is being shared. So sometimes it's hard to sort of assess where the trend is. Is it really that bad? Is it as bad as people say? Is it less bad than people are making out to be? What is your take on that? Well, listen Alec, on one hand I agree with you. When you look at reports in anti-Semitism, you sometimes can raise questions over their methodology. And let's be honest, obviously people are acting in good faith on the one hand. But on the other hand, a lot of these organizations depend on their being anti-Semitism for their own reason for existence because they're fighting anti-Semitism. But listen, we'll take a let's look at this report which I think spells out a little bit more. My thoughts on this, maybe come back and talk about it if there's some time. Right, so a report here by Owen Alterman. Do we have that report by Owen? At any event Alec, we'll get to the report I guess in a second but just to sort of lay it out for a second. Listen, I think there's a consensus that anti-Semitism is getting worse. And in terms of the fight against anti-Semitism, on one hand it's getting more determined. Did you see that among other things, among the way that international Holocaust remembrance that we're talking about today has really become an international phenomenon? At any rate, let's look at the report and let's see, it spells out a little bit more how I feel about this and maybe we'll just talk about it after. Right, again, sorry Owen, we have a technical issue there. I want to see that report as well, trust me, but we just don't have it. We'll keep everyone in suspense. Anyway, I'll break it down for our viewers a little bit. There's a consensus that anti-Semitism is getting worse. And the reports again for all of their flaws really get at this. And on one hand the fight against anti-Semitism is getting more determined. And you see that, for example, what we're experiencing right now and seeing on our screens, just how much of a phenomenon international Holocaust remembrance day has become. Of course, it's not only about anti-Semitism. It is about the history and remembering the Holocaust. I think we do have that report. So let's take a look. Do we have the report third time lucky waiting for that report? Surely third time? Is it coming or not? It seems like again, the technical issues have overcome us over here, Owen. So I'll just ask you another question here, which is maybe one of the more difficult ones that is really talked about a lot, the whole anti-Zionism as anti-Semitism. Of course, the criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism, but we have seen some of these rallies where all kinds of slogans and swastikas are being waved and sort of very, very, very vicious Israel bashing that goes on over there. And the question is, how does Israel fit in into the whole discussion of anti-Semitism? It's not an easy question to answer. Not at all. And I was saying, there's a consensus that anti-Semitism across the board is getting worse. And there is, on one hand, this very determined fight against it, which you can see among other things through the way that international Holocaust remembrance in a really inspiring way has become a phenomenon. I don't know if viewers understand just how many events there are in the four corners of the earth to remember the Holocaust, and among other things, to come together in the fight against anti-Semitism. But I do think that this very determined fight against anti-Semitism is bedeviled by this question of definition that we always seem to come back to, right? How do you define anti-Semitism? We heard, again, from Israeli President Isaac Herzog, as we've heard from Israeli officials, for many, many years now, the call on countries to adopt the IHRA as it's called, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Definition of Anti-Semitism, which has been criticized in some quarters because it does include, as part of its definition, certain types of criticism of Israel. And certainly at the extremes, there is a consensus, right? On one hand, I think that there is a consensus that some criticism of Israel that's expressed in certain ways, certainly when it's extreme enough to be calling for the eradication of Israel, and certainly for the killing of the people who live here, God forbid, that that can amount to anti-Semitism. On the other hand, I think that there's an understanding that there are many people of good will who don't harbor anti-Semitic feelings, but are critical of Israeli government policies. Alec, you and I are critical of Israeli government policies. Israelis are the most here in Israel when you listen to Israelis. They are the most critical of their own government, maybe as much as anyone else out there. So that's certainly something that you hear a lot of criticism inside Israel of the government and its policies. Right, but where exactly you draw the line between those two extremes has been proven to be an impossible problem to solve, and has been, again, bedeviled by these definitions. I think it's fourth time's a charm, I'm told, Alec. So let's go to that report. There's consensus on the need to fight anti-Semitism. There's just no consensus on what anti-Semitism is. So when a gunman takes four Jews hostage in a Texas synagogue is deployed to free a prisoner, the debate gets going. And in the gunman's hometown, there's a bit of a hedge. It's too early and it's unwise. Yes, obviously, it did target each other to go into a synagogue and take hostages. You can't get into the mindset of why he did that thing and why he particularly chose a synagogue, but why the community, the Muslim community, is in unison on this. We are in solidarity with the Jewish community. The argument over what is anti-Semitism is the Achilles heel of the fight against it, at a time when report after report shows anti-Semitism rising. Most recently, a report Monday from the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency that showed the highest number of incidents in a decade. I strongly advocate that we need another environment on social media because it's way too much hate today. At the Malmo Forum in Sweden in October, the focus was on social media. But social media is not the only problem. Anti-Semitic themes have surfaced at protests against COVID rules. And the Gaza conflict in May led to an anti-Semitism spike. Whoever brings hatred against Jews onto our streets, whoever insults, is outside our fundamental law. Yet the question of defining anti-Semitism still nags. Is it anti-Semitic when Ben and Jerry's boycotts Israel's West Bank settlements? Ben and Jerry's decision is a shameful surrender to anti-Semitism, to BBS. When a court green lights an investigation of Israelis, the biased international criminal court in The Hague reached a decision which is the essence of anti-Semitism. It's an international fight against anti-Semitism that has gathered steam and a debate about definitions that nags at it. Oh, and it was very interesting there when we saw that case of the British Muslim immigrant who kidnapped the people in the synagogue, which also raises a new question, which is, what about these migrants coming into Europe who, they're not sort of part of that Hitler-Mindcom style anti-Semitism, but are bringing with them maybe something else and also have not experienced the whole, how would we say, procedure or the whole way or the whole road that the European nations have gone through on this. And it's just something else, but there also is anti-Semitism there coming from a different angle. There was that video, remember, of a youth who was actually Arab walking around with a skull cap with a yarmulke and was assaulted by other Arabs in Berlin because they thought he was Jewish and obviously they're not sort of, they didn't grow up in, or they did grow up in Germany, but their parents didn't grow up in Germany and they're sort of not part of that heritage, but maybe they adopted some of that or they brought some of that from where they came from. So how do you approach this type of anti-Semitism, which is not the traditional type of anti-Semitism that maybe many people are used to? Yeah, it looks funny. I had forgotten about that Berlin story. If I remember correctly, it was an experiment. Again, I believe in Arab-Israeli went with a yarmulke, a kippah, through the streets of Berlin to show that it could be done and there wasn't much anti-Semitism and of course the experiment turned out quite differently if I remember the facts correctly. But listen, obviously anti-Semitism comes from a number of different directions and I suspect that's been true for the history of anti-Semitism. Again, going back to its inception in the Greco-Roman period more than 2,000 years ago or even before, I think you're right. What is interesting and novel and we've heard echoes of this, by the way, in the speech by the President of the Bundestag this morning in the ceremony in Berlin is you're right, migrants are coming to European countries, particularly countries like Germany, and they don't have the family roots, if you will, in the Holocaust and the World War II period. Many Germans were not alive themselves 77 years ago, but they had grandparents who were and they have family stories and it's part of their DNA, if you will. Not so much the anti-Semitism in their DNA, but the Holocaust experience. And you're right, migrants coming from another culture immigrating to Germany, you're right, that it means that it's something different and it's a challenge, I think, for Holocaust memory in many European countries. Alright, see your correspondent Owen Ultriman, we got to see that report in the end and we also got to hear your analysis, which is always interesting, so thank you very much for that. Now to a ceremony taking place right now live at the Auschwitz camp there in Poland, the site of the most notorious of the extermination camps during the war. Let's take a look and see what's going on there. Welcome all the ambassadors and all those who are gathered here in the forum and those of us who are present with us online and through media as well as social media of Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum Memorial. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the leading motive of this year's ceremony is the start of the mass destruction, mass murder of Jews in Auschwitz guest chambers. It's shocking and not speaking witness are the objects that belong to the victims carefully stored here in Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum Memorial. Since June 1940 these early days Auschwitz was a concentration camp designed primarily for the Polish political prisoners. Nearly two years later, the 26th of March 1942, the transport of the 999 Slavic Jewish women reached this place. That was the prelude to the mass murder in Auschwitz. Several first transports of the Jews brought here were people capable to work, able to board eat slaves necessary to extend the camp. However, already late in April there were people from the German point of view who were absolutely useless, the elderly and the children. After being selected by the SS physicians, they were immediately murdered in guest chambers. Let's however return to the first transport of the Jewish women. Let's listen to the accounts of the survivors that speak of traveling to the unknown. Those tragic moments will be recalled by Elizabeth Silberstein-Fenz, Judith Spielberg-Mittelmann and Friedman Grossmann. They didn't give us food, they didn't give us anything, so my sister came and she brought me some food, and I never saw my mother. All the parents began to shout and cry and shout and cry, and my mother, I heard her, I'm hearing her now, she said, about clay I am not not so worried she's strong and but then she's like nothing. They loaded us, crossed the doors, and then there is a little window up on the top. I saw my father standing near the big gate waving to me. I didn't realize I never would see him again. We didn't know that we are going, we didn't have any idea, we were about 50 or maybe 60, not water, not anything, and locked from outside. And we were just sitting there and waiting to arrive somewhere. We didn't even realize what's happening to us. I was sitting in a corner and I was just staring what's happening. Some of them were screaming, crying, but nobody could really anticipate what's coming. Ladies and gentlemen, now let's give the floor to Hania Birenbaum, former enemy of Auschwitz and the survivor of the Auschwitz. Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, now let's give the floor to Hania Birenbaum, former enemy of Auschwitz and the survivor of the Auschwitz. Ladies and gentlemen, now let's give the floor to Hania Birenbaum, former enemy of Auschwitz. Ladies and gentlemen, now let's give the floor to Hania Birenbaum, former enemy of Auschwitz. Ladies and gentlemen, now let's give the floor to Hania Birenbaum, former enemy of Auschwitz. Ladies and gentlemen, now let's give the floor to Hania Birenbaum, former enemy of Auschwitz. Ladies and gentlemen, now let's give the floor to Hania Birenbaum, former enemy of Auschwitz. of their past, those who were trying to document all that, so that people would remember who were trying to war, for those things happening again, and there are new generations for them, all of this is old. It may seem not to concern them anymore, or them also, because they are so terrible. And to people who would rather run away from misery and sadness, people want to diminish, to deny, to forciify, to forciify history. And if we forget, it is basically this threat coming all over again, and it pains me to be terrified, when I see those hateful masses hating others, the Jews, those who are trying to run away from terror at this country of origin. There is this shouting of those who are poisoned with hatred, young people and older, death to Jews, they are crying, and yet again they march in the streets. And what comes next? Death, gas chambers, the death of my family, my loved ones. I survived miraculously, but I went through all this, it was inauspicious in my dank, I could see the fire of their bodies, I was breathing, this ash inauspicious, and those slogans, death to Jews, death to others, and death was for all of us. We die in accidents because of old age, even though we have all these technological miracles, we die because of diseases, especially the latest one, quite famous, that keeps mutating the name. It has quite a noble corona. There is an international bear of mass, deaths in all countries and languages. It sounds the same to all haters, those who hate Poland and Israel, those who lived and live in this valley of tears. Death announced in those marches of those who claim to be patriots. You can die because somebody sneezed or coughed or embraced you. You can see it everywhere. People die of the coronavirus that keeps mutating. I was 10 years old when the Germany attacked and took over Poland in September 1939. By the age of 13 I was taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau. I was taken out of the guest chamber in Majdanek, because basically there was a failure. I could see those Hitler masses. They marched. I could see Bernie Warsaw, and for a few years I was breathing the death and the crimes of the Nazis, and they ruled, and the crimes harmed everybody, the Jews, the Poles, and they would execute their plan of total destruction. And this lasted for five years. They walked in the death march, and I could see those proud Germans, Aryans, Nazis. They were wounded by the bladdied Poland returning to their destroyed houses to their families in their own country. Before you start participating in such marches of hatred, you need to know what kind of price you will ultimately pay in all these years since the liberation from this death, from this hell. I've been telling what I experienced back then, what I witnessed, what I was the victim of, and all my life I've been carrying the image of my family that I lost, my mother, my father, my loved ones, and those who are with me back there, and here in Auschwitz, the sight of those terrible crimes of this terrible suffering, and I conceded my soul like this number that I have still in my forearm. I do regret. I regret that I have not accomplished enough with my testimonies, because Jews were dying. And for a long time nobody wanted to listen. People wouldn't believe. They didn't want to actually imagine what happened. And now most of the survivors have died. They are gone. And thus you see those proud marches of hatred and their cries again. To Jews, to aliens, to others, to refugees, to those who are different, the death will arrive, because it comes to all. Nobody lives forever. Neither the strong ones nor the weak ones, only memory perseveres and lives on. Unfortunately we couldn't finish that testimony there, because we have to wrap up this special edition. After us is a special broadcast produced in cooperation with the European Jewish Congress. That's right after this. Thanks for watching. Allow yourself to express yourself on the theme of memory, choice and struggle against anti-Semitism. That's what we're going to do today in this edition offered by the European Jewish Congress and to which it also concerns High 24 News. Let's go. The first person who will take the floor during this special edition is the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron. I suggest you listen. Hello everyone. I would like to thank you for this invitation to open this event organized by the European Jewish Congress. During this time of the International Day of Commemoration of the victims of the Shoah, I wish to associate myself with you for this moment of reception, of words of exchange. The word against oblivion, the duty of transmitting and the very meaning of these words of Simone Veille. We, the last survivors, we have the right and even the duty to keep you and ask you that the most beloved of our comrades become reality. To remain faithful to the promise made to these survivors, we must not only continue without relaxation, to make the memory of the victims live, especially when some try to falsify it, but we must also continue to act very concretely on a daily basis without relaxation there too. I know each of you fully engaged in this work of memory and this work to fight acts like anti-Semitic propositions. Be assured that France will not lack its responsibility either. I have taken the commitment. The French President of the Council of the European Union has fought against all discriminations, one of its priorities and will reaffirm the specificity, the uniqueness of anti-Semitism. The European Commission presented last October, and I know that its President will return in a few moments, a strategy on the fight against anti-Semitism and the promotion of Jewish life, the creation of a network of signalers of trust in order to remove the unnecessary discourses online, financing to protect public spaces and cultural places, support education, research and the memory of choice. The French President will actively support this strategy in all its dimensions and will work at its endorsement by all member states. But this daily struggle will also be faced by the adoption of legislative tools. The legislation on digital services will be a central tool for the fight against all anti-Semitic propositions on social networks. The European Parliament has spoken last week on this necessary text and the French President will use what negotiations progress as quickly as possible so that it can be the most quickly implemented. Finally, beyond our action on international and in Europe, we will continue to act with determination on the national level. We will continue to engage and I think in particular in the support of many educational projects, the increase in the budget of memorial institutions and in the support of the project of social, cultural and memorial partners engaged in the fight against hate. In addition, we have acted to dissuade the associations or groups who were apologizing for the intolerance and discrimination. It is also this, very concretely, to fight hate in our republic. I want to thank you here for your mobilization. You will ensure that you can count on my full vigilance, on my demand, on my commitment to your side. The fight, which is yours and which is ours, is an essential fight for European civilisation, a European Union as a political construction and for France as a nation and as a republic. It is a fight not to repeat the atrocities of the past. It is a fight for the dignity of each one and each one. This fight, unfortunately, has become a reality because the bad winds are blowing, because political speeches are being installed, because the falsifications of history are there again, because the daily acts are there to remind us that we have not finished this fight. We will not help anything. I count on you and you can count on me. After the President of the French Republic, I propose to listen to a message delivered by the President of the European Commission, Madame Ursula van der Leyen. Distinguished guests, members of the Jewish community, earlier this month, I joined President Macron in the Penteons in Paris to honour two founding figures of the European Union, Jean Monnet and Simon Veil. When Simon Veil was just 16, she was arrested and sent to Auschwitz because she was Jewish. She survived Auschwitz. And then in the winter of 1945, she was sent on a death march to Bergen-Belsen, concentration camp. Again, she survived. After the war, she dedicated her life to public service in France and to building a more just and humane world. She cared deeply for human rights and the rights of women. Simon Veil became the first president of the European Parliament. And having witnessed Europe's darkest hour, she helped build our future the founding mother of the European Union. Today, we remember all those who survived and the millions who perished in the Holocaust. Antisemitism dehumanizes the Jewish people. It strips individuals of their rights and dignity. In Nazi Germany, the dehumanization opened the door to the Shoah. We must never forget. To remember is to make a stand to defend human dignity everywhere. So today, we also look to the future. After the war, Europe was built upon the promise of peace, of putting an end to hatred and ignorance. But antisemitism is again on the rise. It threatens Jewish communities in Europe. And this is why I presented the Commission's first ever strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life in Europe. Because Jewish life is an integral part of Europe's history and of Europe's future. And this is what Simon Vale fought for. The uncompromising defense of human dignity, reason and moderation. I still remember her powerful speech to the German Bundestag on a Holocaust Remembrance Day almost 20 years ago. An entire country paused to listen to her words. She made us face the crimes, the horror and the death of humanity. A past that would never get past her. She called on future generations to keep the memory alive. As she said, Because young people have the responsibility to make progress to all that could lead to the same end to hatred and violence. End of quote. If we protect the facts, we can break the cycle of hatred and violence. Europe will remain united in diversity, faithful to the values of its founding fathers and mothers. You can always count on the European Commission to stand by your side. Message to Charles Michel, President of the Council of the European Union. Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, today's commemoration marks the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. The Shoah itself, a methodical enterprise of extermination of the European Jewish people, began more than 80 years ago. The monstrous realization of a plan, an ideology of hatred of which we are gradually approaching the centenary. Every year, we see the last survivors of this abomination leave us. Soon, no one will remain to bear witness. With each passing year, the Shoah inches towards a historical event more and more distant, more and more abstract, especially in the eyes of the younger generations of Europeans. That's why paradoxically, the more the years go by, the more important the commemoration becomes, the more essential. Two years ago, during the international commemoration, at the site of Auschwitz-Birkenau, I was deeply moved by a survivor of the death marches. His name is Marianne Turski. He addressed his granddaughter and all young people tired of hearing about Auschwitz, about the war, about the Holocaust. And he said, Auschwitz did not fall from the sky. It came in small steps. It entered amid the indifference and discrimination against the rights of minorities. And what happened once can happen again. Marianne Turski's powerful message to young people don't be indifferent because if you are not careful, another Auschwitz could fall from the sky. Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, today the lessons of the show are more relevant than ever. First, because Jewish people feel threatened and they are threatened. They are even attacked in Europe, just because they are Jewish. We do not accept this. We'll never accept it. It cannot be repeated enough. Europe would not be what it is today without Jewish people. And Europe without Jewish people would no longer be Europe. Second, I want to extend Marianne Turski's message to the young. Democracy, too, does not just fall from the sky. It's turned out, it's built. Democracy must be nurtured and protected day after day. It's not a given that it will last forever. Today, once again, democracy has its enemies and they resemble the enemies of yesterday. Of 80 years ago, hate speech, extremism, rejection of the other, conspiracy theories, they creep into our societies, they infiltrate our lives, they contaminate our social networks. That's why today we must do more than remember. Remembering, unfortunately, is not enough. We must act and the European Union is acting. We are fighting these enemies of democracy and fundamental values. But this must also be a personal fight, the fight of each and every one of us. And it begins by rejecting silence, by rejecting acceptance, by rejecting the small steps that lead to indifference. Just to be indifferent to hate speech and to discrimination is to be indifferent to humanity, indifferent to democracy. And this we must never be. Thank you. Ninety-five years ago, on the 27th January, Tsipora Favlovich was born in a village in modern-day Romania. She lived a happy childhood, but everything changed when, along with her classmates, she was forced out of school at the age of 14. Her crime, being Jewish. The following years would be marked by fear, with the introduction of further legislation persecuting the Jewish community. Tsipora and her family retreated into hiding. Then, fear was matched by harrowing brutality when they were sent to Auschwitz in 1944. Tsipora would be one of the very few survivors, while her family were among the millions that were ruthlessly murdered behind wretched iron gates. It has been 77 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, and remembrance of the horrors of the Holocaust is still today also important. Despite decades of effort, we have not yet done enough to combat discrimination, to fight antisemitism. Fear still exists because antisemitism still exists, and because the fundamental right to be free from discrimination irrespective of gender, race, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation is threatened daily. Too often, we hear of attacks or plots to attack synagogues. Too many live in fear. In recent years, we have seen an escalation of antisemitic conspiracy myths. Disinformation and violence against communities move seamlessly between the online and offline world. Fear is present because the threat remains. And this is our collective failure. We must do more to make every citizen in Europe feel safe. Everyone must be free to believe whatever they want to believe and to be whoever they want to be. This is the essence of our Europe. Our generation has a sacred responsibility to teach the lessons of history and to remind our youth of how low humanity was allowed to sink. The moment we stop talking about the Holocaust is the moment we allow the remembrance of such horrors to fade away. Don't stop talking about the Holocaust because if we don't speak about it, there will be enough Holocaust deniers after us. That is Tsipora's message to us. The 27th of January marks an obligation for all of us to remember. This is our collective responsibility. Simon Vale, Auschwitz in May 7, 8, 6, 5, 1 became the first president of a directly elected European Parliament. The European Parliament's responsibility to remember is institutional, but it is also very personal. Today, we remember the atrocities committed towards the Jewish people and all the victims of the Holocaust and we commemorate the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, a liberation that signaled that there was still hope. The European Parliament will not fail to condemn resurgent antisemitism. The European Parliament will continue to uphold our European values and fundamental human rights to bring an end to discrimination. This is our collective challenge. We will never forget. We will keep fighting. This is the European Parliament's pledge to you. Here is the president of the European Jewish Congress, who is the origin of this special edition. It is Dr. Moche Cantor. Distinguished guests, dear friends, thank you for joining us for this commemoration of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Today, we mark the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the ultimate Nazi factory of death. On the 20th of January, we also marked 80 years since the Wannsee Conference. On that fateful day, the final solution for the extermination of Jewish children, women and men, was set in motion. The Nazis had tested humanity's reaction to violent antisemitism twice before. First, on Kristallnacht, where 267 synagogues were destroyed and 7,000 Jewish businesses were attacked. People saw their Jewish neighbors lose everything in one night, and nobody protested then. Second, by the tragedy of St. Louis, a sheep full of Jewish refugees that sailed out of Nazi Germany. Not only one country was willing to take the refugees in and the St. Louis was forced to sail back to Hamburg. After the St. Louis, it became clear that governments were not going to move one finger to prevent the extermination of the Jews. Having made certain of the world's indifference, the Nazis set out to build a machine of destruction to exterminate entire Jewish people. Most of the participants of the Wannsee Conference, the perpetrators of history's most infamous crime, paid for their deeds. And this is the lesson. St. Simon was hanged for his crime while Reinhard Heydrich was assassinated. Others were also hanged, jailed or committed suicide. Only calamity, shame and eternal course weighed those who follow the path of extremism. Every year, Europe's Jewish communities pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the Shoah by shining light on different aspects of this darkest period of our history. This year, we have chosen to place particular focus on France. About 75,000 Jews were deported from France to Nazi concentration camps including 986 men and women and 324 children who were sent from Drancy to Auschwitz on convoy 77, the last large convoy of Jewish deportees in July 1944. The Vichy authorities, their police and militias brought French Jews to French camps to be sent for extermination later. At the same time, thanks to brave and heroic acts of many rages French, almost three quarters of French Jews survived the Holocaust. The liberators of France, de Gaulle and the resistance were France but Vichy was France too. This year the French Republic is holding the presidency of the Council of European Union. We are delighted that the French presidency is partnering with the European Jewish Congress for this very event. I do believe that France, as home of Europe's largest Jewish community, has a vital role to play in efforts across the EU to promote the memory of the Holocaust, combat anti-Semitism and secure the continuation of Jewish life in Europe. We have already seen a brilliant commitment from President Macron to implement the EU strategy on combating anti-Semitism and fostering Jewish life over the next three EU presidency and to develop new tools to ensure that our democratic freedoms live on. We have very high expectation on the French presidency and we look forward to significant achievements. We owe it to the victims and we owe it to survivors. We owe it to future generations. I do believe that the lesson of the darkest period of our European history are extremely relevant in the current situation. The Holocaust didn't begin with extermination camps or Nazi camps going village by village wiping out entire Jewish communities. It began with blaming and dishonoring Jews. And as we know all too well it ended with the destruction of Europe. Six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and about 60 million Europeans died in World War II. In times of political and economic uncertainty people look for simplistic solutions to questions for which they do not have answers. It is no accident that in the midst of pandemic extremists are spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories about Jews or the state of Israel. This shows us that we cannot rest for one minute as they seek to poison the minds of young people. 2022 has been designated by European Union as European Year of Youth. Governments and civil society need to focus urgently on preventing young people from falling into extremism and radicalization. Never in recent times has a younger generation been so increasingly brainwashed with lies and fake news and yet so alarmingly unaware of the facts of the Holocaust. Our challenge is firstly to give these young people hope that they have a secure economic future. This is the task of governments and in financial terms to be an enormous investment. However, if we do not invest in the future of our youth the cost to our societies will be much greater in the long term. Neither should we pretend that this will be enough by itself. This is why we must look for the most relevant influencers who have confidence and confidence of the young people. Those of their own age and background those they look up to in the worlds of sports, entertainment and politics we can use the same tools that are being used to promote hate and extremism primitive populism and conspiracy theories not as a force for evil but as a force for good. We cannot win the fight against anti-Semitism without winning the fight against extremism in general. And I do thank all of you who are devoted to implementing this important mission. Thank you. Daniel Ur-Bestel is 89 years old and I was part of the last convoy which is part of the Dranci for the East on July 31, 1954 and I arrived in Auschwitz to have heard about it at the pre-alable. My name is Frania Averland I was born in Poland in 1926 I was arrested on 39 of ghetto four concentration camps released on May 8, 1945 I am the only survivor of all my family My name is Victor Pereira I was born in Paris on April 4, 1933 I was arrested with my parents in 1942 and after a long day in Dranci I was deported to Bergen-Belsen I was born in Paris in June 1926 I lived the whole war in Paris and was arrested as a prisoner by the commander of the Dranci camp Aloysse Bruner on July 21, 1944 We spent three days and three nights to arrive in Birkenau My name is Julien Valac I was arrested on April 24, 1943 during denunciation I arrived in Birkenau two months after I arrived in Auschwitz on July 26, 1943 After, my mother arrived in Auschwitz and after, she was on the road to Lemos My name is Elie Buzin I was born on July 7, 1929 in Poland Aloysse My parents were killed in the gas chamber and insinuated in the crematorium of Birkenau My name is Francine Christophe I was born in 1933 I was arrested on July 26, 1942 during denunciation on July 26, 1942 Being a prisoner of war I was protected by the Geneva Convention which caused me to be deported during the extermination I was deported during the concentration camp That's why I'm still alive The last survivors of the chaos We, who have known the internment and deportation The violence and humiliation The cold and the hunger We, who have killed the dead Today, we take the word to show once again the consequences of barbarism of intolerance and anti-Semitism at times when extremists win all over the land Until our last breath we demand to transmit our history to defend it against all attempts of banalization of negation to bring our words and to say the name of our lost comrades Tomorrow, we count on you to not let anything happen to raise you up against all forms of anti-Semitism of racism and against all genocides The vigilance is not a vain word Let's stay vigilant In duplex with Margretis Skinas Vice-president of the European Commission especially in the fight against anti-Semitism Hello, Margretis Skinas The European Commission just put a strategic document aimed at fighting anti-Semitism but to promote the life of Jews in Europe Education, research and memory of the Holocaust What impact do you expect from this strategic document and what concrete measures do you expect from the European Commission? Hello to everyone First of all, I would like to thank the European Jewish Congress the French President of the Council and the representative Council of the Jewish institutions of France for the organization of this event The International Day dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust to honor the memory of the millions of Jews who suffered and died under the Nazi regime as it is our sole duty It is also a moment where we have to think about what we can do so that such horrors will never happen again Last October 5th I was honored to present the very first European strategy of fighting anti-Semitism and promoting the support of the Jewish life With this strategy we mark a turning point in Europe It is our promise of a future for the Jewish life in Europe Several generations after the end of the Shoah we see with an attitude a host of anti-Semitism in Europe Anti-Semitism is incompatible with our European lifestyle with our fundamental values This is why, within this commission we have decided to intensify considerably the fight against anti-Semitism Education remains and will remain the most precious means to make barriers to the subject and the hate Every child in Europe should learn what the Holocaust was what is the Jewish life and what is anti-Semitism We are determined to preserve and honor the legacy of survivors by realizing that history does not fall into oblivion and that it is told and transmitted with exactitude Research on all aspects of the Holocaust must be brought freely, openly and independently in order to understand how the Holocaust could be possible in Europe It is also urgent to identify new ways to make memories because the last survivors are unfortunately disappearing With our strategy we propose a series of concrete actions to ensure that the memory of the Holocaust research and education are ensured We will support the creation of a network of sites where the Holocaust is produced of synagogues to cultural sites hidden in the field of shooting We want to make this place visible This will allow everyone to retrace the continuity of the present in Europe and will facilitate local initiatives to visit and restore these cultural and commemorative sites Also on our program on citizenship, equality, rights and values we have significantly increased our funding for the Holocaust project The call for this year of 2022 is open until March 24 with 8 million euros available We will also continue to finance projects of research on the Holocaust via our program of research Horizon Europe One last example in the measure where university research on anti-Semitism can be connected we have decided to create a European research center on contemporary anti-Semitism to reinforce and complete the research related to the Holocaust So we know that the fight against anti-Semitism represents one of the important challenges of democracy in Europe with everything we see especially on the occasion of the coronavirus pandemic the conspirationist phenomena which use symbols related to the Holocaust How does the European Commission want to overcome these challenges? Allow me to reply to this question in English for the many non-Francophones who are following us today The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how old anti-Semitic prejudice can resurge and fuel new conspiracy myths and hatred both online and offline The comparison of pandemic measures with policies that led to the genocide of the Jewish people minimizes and trivializes the experiences of holocaust victims and survivors This is unacceptable These comparisons to the Holocaust are damaging to historical truth They dilute the understanding of the specificity of the Holocaust Holocaust distortion if left unchallenged nourishes anti-Semitism polarizes and creates dangerous forms of nationalism This constitutes a threat to our democracies and as history has unfortunately taught us we should not take our democracies for granted We have a strong tool to fight this through legal instruments Hate speech relating to the condoning, denial or gross trivialization of the Holocaust is criminalized at the EU level under the 2008 framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia All member states are obliged to include this prohibition in their national legislation and most member states have done so but the commission has been obliged to launch infringement procedures against some of the member states that failed to transpose correctly this law into their national legislation We are counting on their full cooperation to remedy these deficiencies In addition, we will continue to support and strengthen the awareness-raising campaign on countering Holocaust distortion with a hashtag Protect the Facts campaign together with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance the United Nations and UNESCO Everyone can join this campaign on social media and take an active part in countering Holocaust distortion I strongly encourage all of your viewers to do so This dark part of our history concerns us all and can only be countered if we hear and share the truth of what happened To shape Europe's future, young Europeans need to understand their past It is our duty and commitment to ensure that every European child learns the lessons of the Holocaust With our strategy on combating anti-Semitism and fostering Jewish life we committed not only to teaching young generations about the Holocaust as I was referring earlier but also about the Jewish contribution to European societies because this is essential to understand anti-Semitism and being able to prevent such atrocities from ever happening again Currently, less than half of Europeans think the Holocaust is sufficiently taught in our schools And this year, 2022, is the European Year of the Youth And as part of these celebrations we will be supporting the development of a network of young European ambassadors to promote Holocaust remembrance schools, universities and vocational and training institutions Teachers will also be empowered to address the Holocaust and anti-Semitism We will support the educational professional training together with UNESCO and the OSCE during the 2023-2024 period We, here in the European Commission can also support our member states to implement reforms in their school curricula to better tackle discrimination, intolerance, hatred racism and anti-Semitism and include Holocaust education as from primary school We will also address anti-Semitism online We are determined to work with the platforms with industry and IT companies and we will strengthen civil society organizations trusted flaggers and fact-checkers Finally, as a contribution to public awareness of the Shoah we will for the first time this year illuminate our headquarters, the Berle-Mont building with a projection of we remember on the day of Holocaust remembrance This shows that the Commission takes a stand We say, never again, and we really mean it And our strategy is the most tangible proof of our determination It is our commitment to a future for Jewish life in Europe for a Europe free from anti-Semitism and any form of discrimination for an open, inclusive and equal society for all Hello Hello Hello Hello Thank you for inviting me Like any other remembrance day it is a very important moment in time to remember the victims, their loved ones The liberation of the Auschwitz camp is a historical moment And of course, like all of these remembrance days it's an important day in the time we're living in today History doesn't repeat itself, but it stumbles We do see that there are troubles A democratic crisis in all countries Anti-Semitism is coming back in different forms especially now with the pandemic And anti-Semitism always announces great hardships So we have to remember and to prepare ourselves again politically and morally to fight anti-Semitism What do you think of this day? I'm going to answer as a French citizen because I arrived in France when I was 8 years old and I never returned to Iran