Dr. William Soto | SPEECH GIVEN AT THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF COSTA RICA

Dr. William Soto | SPEECH GIVEN AT THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF COSTA RICA


The worst crimes against humanity occurred in the 20th century, and even after the United Nations issued the Universal Charter of Human Rights, we saw cases such as the massacre in Rwanda in 1994, which left 800,000 people dead, and as another example, horrible crimes were committed against different ethnic groups in Guatemala and throughout Central America. This makes us aware that we should not forget the past: we must remember history, as it is the best legacy we can leave to future generations. We must not allow ourselves to repeat the dark 20th century.


Dr. William Soto | SPEECH GIVEN AT THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES OF MEXICO

Dr. William Soto | SPEECH GIVEN AT THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES OF MEXICO

We also believe that forgetting the Holocaust would be a crime, and not making it known to new generations would make us accomplices of those who deny it. For that reason, the Global Embassy of Activists for Peace also presented the government of Paraguay with a proposal to learn the lessons of this terrible chapter in history, which gave rise to the issuing of Resolution 684 by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the country on February 20, 2013, declaring the project Traces to Remember of educational interest.


Dr. William Soto | SPEECH GIVEN AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Dr. William Soto | SPEECH GIVEN AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

To date, it has been the deadliest war in Latin America, considered by many historians to be the American genocide; however, it left us with the example of a noble and generous gesture from the government of Colombia, which offered citizenship to all the Paraguayans who entered its territory.

 

Something entirely different happened in 1939 when the St. Louis ship left Hamburg with about a thousand passengers—mostly refugee Jews fleeing Nazi persecution—and was not allowed to land in Cuba or the United States, instead being forced to return to Europe to deliver its passengers directly to the gas chambers.


Speech Given at the DAIA in Memory of the Victims of the Shoah

Speech Given at the DAIA in Memory of the Victims of the Shoah

Although at first glance, Traces to Remember may seem to be focused on the Shoah and the testimony of the survivor, in reality, it is a project directed to the entire human race with the purpose of protecting the fundamental rights of every human being and seeing to it that each individual becomes an upholder of the life and dignity of every man, woman, and child who lives on this planet earth.


SPEECH GIVEN AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

SPEECH GIVEN AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

On December 10, 1948 in Paris, the UN issued the Declaration of Human Rights as a result of the atrocities committed in World War II, and in particular due to the savagery of the Holocaust. The UN did so with the intention of turning that Declaration into a type of international law that would compel member tates to commit to recognize the minimum guarantees and basic rights of all people.