On the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the OSCE warns of dangerous distortions, including Holocaust denial and revisionism, that risk warping the importance of historical remembrance.
By Linda Bordoni
Addressing the permanent council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Fr Janusz Urbańczyk upheld dialogue as a tool to combat prejudice, and warned of the perils of “distortions, including Holocaust denial and revisionism,” that “warp the importance of remembering this horrific event,” allowing the threat of anti-Semitism to lurk in Europe and elsewhere.
In his speech, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the OSCE said the commemoration of these abhorrent events includes two elements:
First, the remembrance of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp by the Allies on 27 January 1945.
Second, the reflection on the inhumane and mechanical persecution and extermination of Jews at the hands of the German Nazi regime, thus ending in the Shoah. The horrendous acts committed are a most drastic reminder of the danger of disregarding people’s intrinsic human dignity and urge a collective commitment to “saying […]: Never again!”
He recalled Pope Francis’ appeal on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, in which he appealed to educators and young people “to not forget that tragic event of history so that we can build a future where human dignity is never again trampled by racist ideologies”.
