A special ceremony was held in Oporto, Portugal on Friday honoring the victims of the Nazi genocide of the Jews, according to the International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR), which initiated the event.
The ceremony took place at the Oporto Holocaust Museum—managed by members of the city’s Jewish community whose relatives were murdered by the Nazis—and was attended by 200 teenagers from the city’s schools.
“The event is part of a world cordon of solidarity for universal peace and for a better world for all humanity,” said IOHR president Luis Andrade, adding, “This appalling mass assassination took the lives of millions of Jews, as well as an untold number of other human beings.”
As part of the ceremony, Andrade presented a certificate of tribute to Oporto Holocaust Museum director Michael Rothwell.
“It is a privilege to receive such a tribute, meant for all Holocaust victims, such as my grandparents, Jewish people who were targeted for scientific and industrial annihilation, the likes of which had never before happened in the history of humanity,” said Rothwell upon receiving the certificate.
OIHR said in a statement that “to ensure that the memory of the horrendous massacre remains alive, the Jewish Community of Oporto will make sure that all Holocaust Museums around the world, the Anti-Defamation League and B’nai B’rith International, the oldest Jewish organization in defense of human rights, receive a copy of this certificate.”
Inaugurated early this year by the Jewish Community of Oporto (CIP/CJP), in partnership with the Holocaust Museums of Moscow, Hong Kong, the United States and Europe, the Oporto Holocaust Museum contains a replica of the barracks at Auschwitz, a room of names, photo galleries and more.
