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European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek: "The European Union was created so that the nightmare of war will never be repeated. The Nazi death camp at Auschwitz is also a symbol for the Union."
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KRAKOW (EJP)---The European Parliament’s Polish President Jerzy Buzek described the Holocaust as "the greatest ever human tragedy", 65 years after the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Buzek, participated Wednesday to ceremonies commemorating the liberation of the Nazi death camp and of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
"I am here today as a representative of the citizens of a united Europe," he said. "But the path to this point was a long and painful one,” he said at a forum “Let My People Live” organized in new Opera of Krakow by the European Jewish Congress, World Holocaust Forum, and Yad Vashem.
"The European Union was created so that the nightmare of war will never be repeated. The Nazi death camp at Auschwitz is also a symbol for the Union."
European institutions are loudest in demanding respect for human rights and it is an obligation we have to follow,” he said.
The former Polish Prime Minister said we must learn from our past, and warned that future generations are "not allowed to forget" what happened in Auschwitz.
"It is our duty as Europeans to ensure remembrance and to educate," he said.
He presented the recent theft of the Auschwitz "Arbeit macht frei" Nazi entrance sign as an example of "appalling lack of memory and lack of education" and announced the establishment of a new European forum, that will concentrate on taking action for human rights.
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The chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, Rabbi Meir Lau, a Holocaust survivor, told of his own experience as a seven year-old when, as prisoners were lined up to be taken away, his mother pushed him into the arms of his elder brother. "She saved my life," he said.
He called on world leaders to "be brave enough and determined enough" to save lives if faced with a similar threat. "Take decisions, don't hesitate," he said.
"Decisions are better late than never. Don't stand on the blood of someone. Do what is possible."
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Government representatives from several European countries, representatives of Jewish organizations, surviovors, – among them Tel Aviv’s chiegf rabbi Meir Lau-, and Russian veterans who help liberate Auschwitz l attended the forum during which an evocative opera performance depicted the suffering of Jews at the hands of the Nazis.
In his speech, World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, warned again "another horror coming to our world." "I am talking about Iran."
"We have a man who denies the Holocaust, who talks about the destruction of Israel and hatred of Jews."
He called on international leaders to "take Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] seriously".
"Unless we do, we have great problems in store," he warned. "The EU must continue to fight against this tyrant with the rest of the free world."
During the forum European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor presented the idea of creating a University of “global security and tolerance.
“These twins, security and tolerance, cannot live without each other, like the life on our planet cannot exist without water. We need tolerance like oxygen, but unlimited tolerance is the biggest threat to security,” he said.
The university would be a project jointly undertaken by the EU, Russia and the U.S. The European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation (ETCR) is set to establish a foundation for the project, and detail its objectives, location, legal basis and funding.