German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier says Germany must remain committed to fighting anti-Semitism in any form.
“The industrial mass murder of six million Jews, the worst crime in humanity, was committed by my country,” he says. “The terrible war which cost over 50 million lives originated in my country. Seventy-five years after the liberation of Auschwitz, I stand here as the president of Germany, laden with guilt.”
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivers a speech during the Fifth World Holocaust Forum at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem on January 23, 2020 (RONEN ZVULUN / POOL / AFP)
“I wish I could say that we Germans have learnt from history once and for all, but I cannot say that when hatred is spreading, I cannot say that when anti-Semitism is hidden in criticism of Israeli policy, and I cannot say that when only a thick wooden door prevents a right-wing terrorist from carrying out a massacre on Yom Kippur,” he says.
“It is the same evil, and there remains only one answer: Never again. That is why there can never be an end to remembrance.”
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