By CECILIA OLOGUNAGBA
UN on Thursday remembered the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, along with the Roma and Sinti, and countless other victims of its “unprecedented horror and calculated cruelty”.
The Holocaust “defined the United Nations”, Secretary-General António Guterres told a virtual ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, recalling that the UN Charter was drafted in San Francisco “as the Dachau concentration camp was liberated”.
In remembering the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, along with the Roma and Sinti, and countless other victims of its “unprecedented horror and calculated cruelty”,
“The United Nations must always be on the frontline of the fight against antisemitism and all other forms of religious bigotry and racism,” the UN chief said.
Today, the world is witnessing an alarming uptick of xenophobia and hate.
Guterres described rising antisemitism, intolerance and proliferating Holocaust denials, in which “no society is immune”.
“We must never forget that the Holocaust could have been prevented. The desperate pleas of the victims fell on deaf ears. Too few spoke out, too few listened – fewer still stood up in solidarity,” he said.
Remembering the past is crucial to safeguarding the future and silence in the face of hatred is complicity, the UN chief added.
He urged everyone to never be indifferent to the suffering of others, forget what happened in the death camps, or let it be forgotten by others.
“Let us pledge to always be vigilant and uphold human rights and dignity for all,” the secretary-general said.
In his address, General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid celebrated the lives and mourned the losses of the women, men, and children who “perished during the worst atrocity in human history”.
“We honour those whose lives were cut short by ruthless and intolerable acts fuelled by bigotry, antisemitism, and hatred,” he said. “We ensure that they live on in legacy and in memory”.
And to prevent history from repeating itself, everyone must remember and keep “telling this story”.
“We remind ourselves of humanity’s worst moments and vow, year after year: never again,” said the UN official. “Because to do so is to stand against any manifestation of Holocaust denial”.
According to Shahid, the world must refute those who seek to distort facts and to commit to raising awareness in educating new generations, upholding the truth, embracing equality and protecting the rights of the most vulnerable groups globally.
Noting that too much suffering has been endured for the Holocaust to be “lost through lies and hate”, he pledged to support and strengthen resolutions from the General Assembly that “protect human rights and empower people everywhere”.
“It is heart-breaking that amid the scourges of this pandemic – hatred, intolerance, and antisemitism once again fuel modern violence, conflict, and discrimination,” he stated.
“In memory of the Holocaust victims, and out of respect for the survivors, let us never forget. Let us unite for truth, peace, and justice for all”.
According to data from the UN and its educational agency, UNESCO, 17 per cent of content related to the Holocaust on the hugely popular online platform TikTok has either denied or distorted the genocide.
“Denying, distorting or trivializing the true facts of the Holocaust is a pernicious form of contemporary anti-Semitism,” UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay said.
To tackle the problem, UNESCO, and the World Jewish Congress (WJC) launched a new partnership with TikTok whereby when users search for terms relating to the Holocaust, they will be redirected to verified information.
“We welcome TikTok’s commitment to act with UNESCO and the WJC.
“All online platforms must take responsibility for the spread of hate speech by promoting reliable sources of information,”Azoulay said. (NAN)

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