“Commemorational Address of the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, Congress of Peru - Mr. Yossi Aviram”

Mr. Yossi Aviram

Cultural, Commercial and International Aggregate Cooperation of the Embassy of Israel in Peru

Mr. Juan Castagnino Lema, President of the Peru-Israel Parliamentary League; congressmen present, Ambassador of Poland, Ambassador of Guatemala; Mr. Christian Sánchez, National Information Officer of the United Nations for Peru; Dr. William Soto of the Global Embassy of Activists for Peace; Mr. Oliver Schramm, Minister Counselor and Charge d'Affaires of the German Embassy; Dr. Nelly Fuentes de Sánchez, Coordinator of the project "Traces to Remember” in Peru; Rabbi William Bronstein, Rabbi Abraham Ben-Amu, rabbis, pastors; President of the Superintendence of Insurance and Banking, Mr. Daniel Schydlowsky; ladies, gentlemen; and, the most important people of this event: the survivors, Mr. Hirsz Litmanowicz, Mrs. Esther Karl, and all the survivors present here in Peru.

First of all I express the fraternal greeting of Ambassador Modi Ephraim, who is in Israel. I extend his gratitude to the Global Embassy of Activists for Peace, for keeping the memory of the victims of the Holocaust alive through the project “Traces to Remember".

Today I stand here in front of you, and with me there are five shadows that you cannot see, but they are the shadows of all those victims who could also be present.

The history of the Jewish people in Israel goes back thousands of years. Throughout this time we established a nation, a temple, but unfortunately we were also victims of expulsions of conquests that did not allow us to conduct our life.

During World War II we were victims of racism, intolerance and persecution during the Nazi regime. More than six million Jews, a third of our people, were killed in a methodical way with gas, rifles and fire, just for being Jews. What remained of them were ashes.

Those who fought to survive in conditions almost impossible for a human being, those who fought to rise from the ashes, came back to life and focused their dream on restoring the nation to the national place of the Jewish people in Israel.

The Holocaust is a sign that Israel must be strong and independent, and must maintain the responsibility of watching over its own existence. It is also very important to continue working with our friends around the world for peace, tolerance and harmony.

The Holocaust is the set of personal stories that leads us to the obligation to tell future generations that barbarism like this should never be repeated.

Although there are still extremist organizations and regimes that say that the Holocaust never existed, it is important to call attention to the world and understand that education has not yet won the battle against anti-Semitism.

The lessons left by the Holocaust will continue fighting hate and intolerance of any kind.

How good it would be for all schools in the world to include a chapter of the Holocaust in their curriculum to teach our children the true meaning of intolerance, racism and lack of morals.

Each of the survivors that live in Peru, and around the world, create a testimony of life for humanity and an answer for those who say that the Holocaust did not exist.

I greet you and congratulate you on your courage, and I say to you: Speak and recount. And to those who listen I say: Share history and educate.

I want to give a thousand thanks to "the righteous of the nations" and to the fighters against the Nazi regime, who found the courage and fearlessness to resist in that difficult time.

I reiterate my compliments to the Global Embassy of Activists for Peace for this creative project that allows the survivors of the Holocaust their own victory over their dissidence and for conveying the lessons that the Holocaust left behind.

Thank you very much and shalom.