Summary: EU Presidency General Statement - UN General Assembly: Resolution on Holocaust Denial (26 January 2007: New York)
General Statement on behalf of the European Union, by H.E. Mr. Thomas Matussek, Permanent Representative of Germany , after the adoption of the Resolution on Holocaust Denial (A/61/L.53), in the General Assembly of the United Na-tions, 61st session, New York
Madame President,
Before I speak on behalf of the EU, let me first emphasize that I am aware that the un-precedented crime of the Holocaust was committed by Germans and in the name of Germany and that from that stems our very special responsibility. In 1945, after the lib-eration of the camps and the defeat of Germany, it would have been presumptuous for us to hope that a country that had turned Europe into a place of war and genocide would soon be accepted as a close partner within a European Union.
Madame President,
I have the honour to speak on this solemn occasion on behalf of the European Union.
The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Mace-donia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candi-dates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, and the EFTA coun-tries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.
The EU, like the United Nations itself, was born out of the catastrophe of war and geno-cide. Our peoples at that time were moved by the firm resolve to never let this happen again.
The Holocaust took place in Europe but its significance reaches beyond Europe. It was unprecedented within human history. Therefore, every year on January 27, the General Assembly and many UN member states commemorate the liberation of the Nazi death camps. They honour the memory of the victims of the Holocaust - millions of Jews in the first place, but also other groups like the Sinti and Roma people, persons with disabilities and persons that were persecuted because of their sexual
orientation.
In 2005, the General Assembly created the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The decision was taken by consensus and is proof of the resolve expressed then by each UN member state not to let the Holocaust fall into oblivion or be ignored. The commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust must be a defining part of our common heritage, and a measure of each state's commitment to a world free of genocide. We must all understand the responsibility imposed
on us by the victims of the Holocaust. Especially today, when ever fewer survivors can pass on their own personal experience of the Holocaust, it is vital to find new ways of keeping alive the memory of those terrible crimes for future generations.
By commemorating the Holocaust, we reaffirm our responsibility to combat anti-Semitism, racism and any form of political, ethnic or religious intolerance. Anti-Semitism has been the central historical context of the Holocaust. Racism, intolerance and hatred may again generate atrocities and genocidal crimes. It is the duty of every member of today's global community to prevent this. But the first and foremost prerequisite for tak-ing up this duty is the readiness to face the truth. It is the
resolve neither to evade the truth nor to distort historical facts. Such distortions are a shameful failure of the respon-sibility we all share to ensure a world free from such atrocities.
Therefore, in 2005, the EU supported the resolution by which January 27 was desig-nated as the annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. It also fully endorses today's resolution condemning any attempt to deny the holocaust and to distort the historical truth. Every member of these United Nations should do likewise.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
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