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As the world marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day, it is a stark reminder of the horrors of evil and Ireland is committed to countering all forms of antisemitism, racism and discrimination, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said.
With today marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade said:
“It is essential that we learn the lessons of the Holocaust and continue to uphold its terrible truth against those who deny it.
“At a time of a global rise in antisemitism, I am committed to working with my colleagues across Government, and with Ireland’s Jewish community, to give effect to the commitment in the Programme for Government regarding measures to counter antisemitism.”
Ireland recently endorsed Global Guidelines on Countering Antisemitism and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and today the Tánaiste is announcing that Ireland will be making a contribution of €50,000 to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. This will support ongoing work to ensure the preservation of the site and artefacts of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp for future generations.
Ireland has supported the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation through their Perpetual Capital Fund since 2013, usually through an annual contribution. The €50,000 contribution is in recognition of the particular resonance of the occasion as survivors gather in Auschwitz to mark 80 years since the liberation of the Camp in 1945 and in memory of the over one million Jewish people, and others, who were murdered there, and the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
The Tánaiste said:
“Ireland is committed to supporting the preservation of this place of memory, and to safeguarding the education of future generations on the reality of the Holocaust, avoiding recurrence of conflict and promoting peacebuilding and tolerance.”
Auschwitz-Birkenau is a UNESCO World Heritage site of global significance. It plays an irreplaceable role in preserving the traumatic impact and horror of the Holocaust and the Second World War. With the passage of time, as the number of direct witnesses and survivors of the Holocaust inevitably leave us, the Museum will serve a particularly important function in Holocaust education and the preservation of memory into the future.
Ireland has a longstanding commitment to Holocaust Remembrance and is a strong supporter of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Charter for Safeguarding Sites, which helps protect all authentic sites of the Holocaust and ensures the future of remembrance.