Jewish and Israeli Holidays
The canceled visit due to security concerns shows “leaders’ ‘Never again’ declarations are hollow,” the European Jewish Association chairman said.
This evening’s lights are “a memorial to the 6 million lives lost and a bright reminder of our unwavering solidarity,” Mayor Eric Adams said.
“I demand the world remember what happened only 80 years ago,” she said.
“The history of the Holocaust is one of total moral collapse, dehumanization, complicity and unimaginable atrocities,” said the official who represented the United Nations at the event.
Holocaust survivors and scholars said the international community’s abandonment of the Jewish state belies its promises to learn from the genocide.
This year’s commemoration marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
“We will never forget the 6 million Jews murdered in cold blood,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The public has been given online access to 380,000 pages related to the 1961 trial of the Nazi war criminal.
Anti-Israel co-organizers and their rhetoric at last year’s event make attendance at the ceremony “unacceptable,” community leaders said.
A total of 123,715 Holocaust survivors live in Israel.
“The core of new antisemitism is the attempt to ... undermine [Israel’s] right to self-defense,” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said.
The peaceful, silent protest started after Michael Higgins, who has been accused of antisemitism, mentioned Israel in his speech.
