Jews in Rwanda commemorate Holocaust

While commemorating the Holocaust, on Monday, survivors and various leaders called for an end to anti-Semitism, discrimination and other acts of hatred saying that atrocities happen because seeds of hate are left to grow.

75 years ago, AUSCHWITZ, the largest and most notorious Nazi concentration and death camp, was liberated.  6 Million Jews perished in the Holocaust that took place during World War 2.

 At a commemoration ceremony held at the Genocide Memorial in Gisozi, 83-year-old David Frankel, a holocaust survivor, narrated some of the atrocities he witnessed at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

According to a global survey conducted in November last year on Anti-Semitism by the US-based Anti-Defamation League, anti-Semitic attitudes have increased in Eastern and Central European nations.

Chaya Singer, a representative of the World Jewish Congress, strongly condemned anti-Semitism, racism and other prejudices saying that atrocities happen because seeds of hatred are left to flourish.

According to Israel’s Ambassador to Rwanda, Dr. Ron Adam, history would not have repeated itself in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda if generations had been adequately informed and taught about the Holocaust.

Rwanda’s Minister of Youth and Culture Rosemary Mbabazi said that given the country’s history, Rwandans understand the pain of the Jewish people and pledged to stand with them in the fight against anti-Semitism.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Day was designated by a United Nations General Assembly resolution on the 1st of November 2005. The resolution came after a special session on January 2005 during which the United Nations General Assembly marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps and the end of the Holocaust.