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Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism
Foreign Minister Steinmeier on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism
Foreign Minister Steinmeier issued the following statement today (27 January) on the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism:
Auschwitz extermination camp was liberated 72 years ago today. The name Auschwitz and this day remind us of all the death camps and of the National Socialist persecution and killing machine – a terrible, unforgotten and ever‑present chapter in the history of our country.
We cannot change or undo what has occurred. We do, however, have both a duty and an obligation to recall the ultimate betrayal of all civilised values that was the Shoah, to commemorate the victims, and to assume our present‑day responsibility in this connection.
Especially in this day and age, when quite a few certainties are being called into question, and when the world around us may appear unsafe, restless and lacking in order, days like today, and taking time to reflect on our past, are of great importance.
To us, our history is a lesson, an admonition and a calling. Remembrance cannot, and must never, end.
Background information:
27 January is Remembrance Day for the six million European Jews killed, the Sinti and Roma, the forced labourers, the prisoners of war left to starve to death, the people euthanised by the state, the homosexuals, all those who, for religious, political or simply humanitarian reasons, stood against the reign of terror and so fell victim to the strictures of the totalitarian regime.
In the morning, a ceremony of remembrance will be held in the German Bundestag. At the invitation of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, Minister of State Roth will also give a speech on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism at a remembrance ceremony for the persecuted and murdered Sinti and Roma at the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe persecuted and murdered under the National Socialist Regime.