President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday joined Israeli and German envoys in remembering victims and survivors of the Holocaust during an annual memorial in Taipei.
In a rare English-language address on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Lai said that the policies of the authoritarian Nazi regime resulted in the deaths of approximately 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.
“It is one of the darkest chapters in human history,” he said. “These occasions help us remember the victims, preserve historical memory and most importantly, reinforce our resolve to fight against hatred and discrimination.”
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Lai, a former Tainan mayor, said the southern city is home to Taiwan’s first Holocaust Memorial Museum.
“Its founding mission urges us to forget hatred and love one another; put an end to war and advocate peace,” he said.
Andreas Hofem, deputy director of the German Institute Taipei, said that as a German, his generation is not as guilty as those generations of Germans who lived through the dark times of the Holocaust.
“Yet, as Germans, I think we must accept this shame and this responsibility,” Hofem said.
In Germany, the “culture of remembrance” has become a cornerstone of our democracy. It teaches us that freedom is fragile, and that the seeds of hatred and indifference must never be allowed to take root again.
Israeli Representative Maya Yaron said the Holocaust was “not only an attack on the Jewish people, it was an assault on humanity itself, a grim warning that is relevant also today, also here in Asia, of what happens when hatred is allowed to fester unchecked.”
The Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei has dedicated much time and effort to promoting Holocaust history and education, she said.
“Unfortunately, many are not yet familiar with the important lessons of the Holocaust and the current days’ rise in discrimination against Jewish people,” she said, adding that it is widely regarded as a “European tragedy.”
“The lessons of the Holocaust are universal and also relevant to Taiwanese: They teach us the dangers of silence, the consequences of hatred and the necessity of vigilance,” she said.
The Israeli and German offices in Taiwan have since 2016 jointly observed International Holocaust Remembrance Day, designated by the UN in 2005, to remember the victims of the genocide committed by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945.
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