A photography exhibition on the Holocaust, which opened at the Control Yuan yesterday, focuses on the harm of racial discrimination and the importance of defending human rights, the National Human Rights Commission has said.
One of a series of events being held by the commission ahead of Human Rights Day on Friday, the exhibition — titled “Shoah: How was it humanly possible?” — features 18 images reproduced from the photograph collection of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, about the genocide of European Jews from 1933 to 1945.
Speaking about the motivation behind the show, Control Yuan President and commission Chairwoman Chen Chu (陳菊) said that yesterday marked the 80th anniversary of the start of Nazi Germany’s extermination campaign at the Chelmno extermination camp, where poison gas was used to kill hundreds of thousands of people.
Photo: CNA
Historical sites of injustice, such as the extermination camp, bear testimony to the “darkest time in human history” and provide venues where younger generations can learn from history and its lessons, Chen said.
The exhibition, which runs until Dec. 22, serves to remind people that this cruel history must not be repeated, she said.
About 192,000 Holocaust survivors live in Israel, but soon most of them will be too old to tell their experiences in person, Israeli Representative to Taiwan Omer Caspi said.
For that reason, it is critical that their accounts are preserved and passed on to future generations, he said.
The Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei has in particular promoted Holocaust remembrance and education in Taiwan, Caspi said.
“We are devoted to telling the story of those who perished and those who survived,” he added.
The office represents Israel’s interests in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties between the two nations.
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