Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the Occasion of International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
教科文组织总干事伊琳娜·博科娃“缅怀大屠杀受难者国际纪念日”致辞
Each anniversary of the liberation of the concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau reminds us with horror of the atrocities that were committed by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.
This collapse in the values that underpin our humanity reminds us of the fragility of peace and the urgency of strengthening the pillars of tolerance, respect for others and human rights. This obligation applies to all countries, now and in the future.
Auschwitz-Birkenau and its industrialized killing system represent a culmination point in the destruction of humans by other humans. In the name of a racist ideology, of which hatred of Jews was the central element, people of all ages and all conditions were systematically murdered on a continental scale, simply because they were Jewish. Millions of other individuals, because of their supposed racial inferiority, their ideas, or on other grounds, were persecuted and killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Second World War.
The genocide of the Jewish people also sought to wipe out a centuries-old European cultural heritage. UNESCO pays tribute to the victims without graves, who would be condemned a second time if they were forgotten by history. UNESCO pays tribute also to the survivors, some of whom share their testimonies in schools.
The more removed this tragedy becomes from us in time, and as the survivors pass on, the greater the need to teach the meaning of this history for the present. The Holocaust shows just how far hatred can go. It also reminds us that the folly of some is often taken forward through the ignorance and indifference of others who, through lack of historical knowledge, fail to heed the harbinger signs of extreme violence. This risk remains present today. Those who deny or relativize the crimes of the Holocaust seek to perpetuate the causes of genocide and to revive violence. Education remains the last bastion to protect us against this threat, and this is where UNESCO’s mission takes on its full significance.
Remembrance must be the first step in a common effort to prevent any further genocide and any repetition of new mass violence. For this, UNESCO is helping States to integrate these difficult issues in their educational priorities, developing the network of UNESCO Chairs on this topic and supporting the design and evaluation of educational content.
On this day, I call on all members of UNESCO to persevere in spreading knowledge of this history and to combat all forms of racism and anti-Semitism. Teaching about the Holocaust is a real way to fight intolerance and prejudice around the world, by taking ownership of a history that sheds light on our common humanity.
UNESCO was established in the wake of the Holocaust on the conviction that lasting peace must draw on the mutual understanding of peoples and cultures, nurtured through education and knowledge sharing, in ways that highlight the best of humanity in ourselves. The Holocaust has shown us the worst of ourselves, and remembrance of the victims must accompany us in our quest for a world where such horrors will never reoccur.
翻译:
每个解放奥斯威辛-比克瑙集中和灭绝营周年纪念日,对我们来说都是不堪回首的一天,令我们回想起纳粹政权及其同党所犯下的暴行。
这一人类基本价值观的沦丧反映出和平是多么不堪一击,而巩固宽容的基石、推动对他人和人权的尊重又是怎样的迫切。不论现在还是将来,这一要求适用于所有国家。
奥斯威辛-比克瑙及其工业化的杀人系统堪称人毁灭人的顶峰。对犹太人的仇恨是种族主义意识形态的核心内容,以此为名,一个大陆的各个年龄、各种身份的人仅仅因为身为犹太人就遭到了系统杀戮。第二次世界大战期间,还有数百万人因为被认为属于低等种族、因为其思想观念或其它理由就遭到了纳粹及其同党的迫害和杀害。
对犹太人民的种族灭绝是一次对人的毁灭,其目的还在于毁灭具有数百年历史之久的一种欧洲文化遗产。教科文组织缅怀这些死无葬身之地的遇难者,忘记他们等于使他们二次受难。教科文组织还向大屠杀的幸存者致敬,其中某些幸存者正在学校里与人分享着自己的见证。
随着时移世易、生者逝去,这场悲剧越是远离我们,就越有必要讲授这段历史之于现在的意义。大屠杀表明仇恨会导致怎样的灾难。它还提醒我们,一些人的疯狂经常被另一些人的无知和冷漠所代替,后者由于不了解历史,无法在激进的暴力初露端倪时将其挫败。这种危险仍具有当下意义。对大屠杀罪行的否定和淡化目的在于使种族灭绝的原因延续下去,重新激发暴力。教育是预防此种危险的最后围墙,正是在这方面才能完全体现教科文组织的使命。
唤醒记忆,应该是迈向携手并肩阻止一切新的种族屠杀和新的大规模暴力的第一步。教科文组织责无旁贷,致力于帮助会员国将这些难题纳入其教育优先事项,发展与该主题有关的教科文组织教席网络,支持相关教育内容的设计和评估。
今天,我呼吁教科文组织的所有成员铭记这段历史,反对一切形式的种族主义和反犹主义。大屠杀教育是一个具体的手段,通过它我们与世界上无处不在的不宽容和偏见作斗争,通过它我们得以了解一段照亮人类共同命运的历史。
教科文组织诞生于大屠杀发生不久,其信念是真正的和平建立在各民族和文化相互理解基础之上,而教育和知识分享使我们完善自身,培养出相互理解之情。大屠杀向我们展现了最坏的一面,对遇难者的缅怀应伴随着我们去追求一个此类暴行不再重演的世界。
[缅怀大屠杀受难者国际纪念日致辞]