Good morning everyone!

Dear professors,

Excellency Ambassadors,

Dear representatives of the religious communities in Albania,

Dear students,

 

The Holocaust Remembrance Day takes on a particular significance which relates not only to the unprecedented inhumane act of a totalitarian regime and ideology, but also to the hope and seal of victory of humanity against evil.

Edmund Burke said that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. The prelude of the Holocaust was exactly the passivity and indifference to the extremist policies, coated with the glamorous guise of that populism time.

The fraternal bond between Albanians and Jews enabled not only that no Jews in Albania were handed over to the Nazis, but gave new impetus to the already consolidated friendship between our two nations. We Albanians take pride on the sacrifices of our ancestors, who despite being under threat of death welcomed and sheltered the persecuted Jews throughout Europe.

Any act of remembrance would be useless, if new generations were not aware that the most efficient way to prevent such unimaginable crimes against humanity is their education and institutional cooperation at international level. The Holocaust and its inconsolable history, is now part of our educational curriculum. In this manner not only we remember what has happened, but we hope to further strengthen our consciousness and protect the future of mankind from repeating of such tragedy.

Current events make us aware of the fact that other forms and types of radicalism are emerging in many countries and societies. Attacks over the past year, but also at the beginning of this year in France, Germany, Turkey and other countries show that anti-Semitism and violent extremism are increasing, indicating that anti-Semitism constitutes a threat to democracy, civilization values and security in general.

Hence, it is our political and moral commitment to enable younger generations to understand the causes of the Holocaust and reflect upon the consequences as a warning that what happened once can happen again in case we do not all stand determined against prejudice, exclusion, discrimination, religious intolerance and xenophobia.

The need for a genuine dialogue and interaction between different religions and cultures continues to occupy an important place in these turbulent times we are going through. The existing lack of dialogue and credibility encourages extremism in its efforts to divide the international community by creating artificial cultural and religious fault-lines.

In conclusion, for i know there will be a debate and a discussion between people who have much more than we do to talk about this tragic event, I would like to thank the team of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who organized this activity and show my joy that this event, which is commemorated at least officially for the fourth consecutive year, is already becoming a tradition with the participation of other stakeholders, not just institutional or official, because for us nothing is more important than conveying the message to future generations about what happened. As Fr. Zef Pllumi wrote: “When time comes of not being able to do anything, at least live to tell”

Thank you!