68th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz

Speech of Sergey Naryshkin, the Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation

I would like to thank our Polish colleagues for their efforts to preserve the memorial and to defend the historical truth.

Today - on the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust - the representatives of different countries, people of different nationalities and various ages once again meet here. They stand in solidarity so that the crimes of fascism are not subject to statute of limitations, and the memory of the victims is sacred. I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in today's events, which are significant for our nations and the entire world.

On the 68th anniversary of the liberation of Oświęcim by the Soviet army, the Russian exhibition has been renewed. This has been made possible through both the Russian Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War and thanks to all those who collaborated on this important work.

I consider the participation in the commemorative events by the former prisoners of Nazi concentration camps and veterans who liberated Oświęcim and saved Europe from the "Nazi plague" symbolic. We will always remember their courage and perseverance, of the great contribution to the history of mankind. We know about their present active stance, which helps in preserving historical memory and which is indispensable for the upbringing
of youth.

All future generations should know what Nazism was and what misfortune it brought upon our planet. And this is why it is important for the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum to be maintained by the efforts of many countries. We believe that its activity needs the widest possible co-operation on the part of state authorities, social organisations and the scientific community from all over the world.

It is our common duty towards the memory of the victims of Auschwitz. After all, among them were the citizens of various countries - and prisoners of war, and the civilian population. Most of the fallen were representatives of the Jewish people, who the Nazis planned to destroy completely.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau camp acted as part of an overall system of death, killing millions of people - through mass executions and cruel experiments, starvation and forced labour. And only victory in 1945 put an end to this methodical, monstrous programme, eventually cutting short those inhuman Nazi plans.

Of utmost importance is the memory of the tragedy and suffering of the inmates of the death camp, speaking about them, and further examination of these dreadful facts, even if it was, I do not know, how hard. We have the simple obligation to restore the names and the fate of the victims from non-existence, to tell the story of their resistance against the Nazis, about the high price that was paid for liberation. Recreated in the last year, the Russia Historical Association will also conduct such activities.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

The more the events of the Holocaust and World War II move away from us, the more important it is to preserve their testimony. In the first years after the war, it was hard to even imagine that there would be those who would hold the Nazis, their accomplices and their crimes against humanity in high regard. But unfortunately, we know of such examples today. We cannot remain indifferent to them.

We often call great events and phenomena milestones of history. But these same stones, these same signs may be different. One shows a safe path. Others warn of mortal danger, of the abyss and of an inevitable end. The camp in Oświęcim and other Nazi concentration camps became the most atrocious, in their cautioning power, warning.
A warning to all future generations.

That is why today, and in the future, we should not forget that only humanist ideals and objectives should be found at the heart of global development and progress. And it is absolutely necessary for us this unity of effort, so that no one could ever restore Nazism to the world.