Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev took part in the Holocaust memorial ceremony on the occasion of the 84th anniversary of Kristallnacht, which was held in the Auschwitz camp in Poland. The guests passed through the camp's main entrance - the site's iconic gate with the inscription Arbeit Macht Frei. Representatives of delegations from different countries laid wreaths at the Black Wall.
Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev laid wreaths on behalf of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office. Geshev emphasized that, historically, Bulgaria made efforts and managed to save the representatives of the Jewish community in our country during the Second World War. Prosecutor General declared readiness of Bulgarian authorities to actively oppose the spread of anti-Semitism and hate speech. "The millions of lives lost should be a lesson for all of us. History must be remembered so that the mistakes must not be repeated", said Ivan Geshev.
Special guests at the event were President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi, Speaker of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Marketa Adamova, Prime Minister of Montenegro Dritan Abazović, Secretary of the French Parliament Caroline Geneviève, representatives of the Poland and international organizations, relatives of Holocaust victims. Special guests at the event, organized by the European Jewish Association, lit 6 candles in front of one of the gas chambers in the Auschwitz camp in memory of the 6 million Jews, victims to the Holocaust.
In his speech, the Chairman of the European Jewish Association, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, said: “Every person should visit Auschwitz. One of the most horrible places in the world, but also one of the most important one for people. Because of the people themselves. Millions of people were killed here because of hatred. Our goal is to never let this happen again. We all have tremendous power and it is within ourselves, let's not let that happen.”
President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, called never to be silent about the horrors that happened in this place, so that something like that must not be allowed to happen again.
Guests at the ceremony reaffirmed their strong commitment to countering anti-Semitism, racism and other forms of intolerance in modern societies
The second day of the working visit of Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev to the Republic of Poland continues with his participation in an International Conference in Krakow. The forum will focus on the cooperation between European countries on security issues and the prevention of manifestation of hatred based on ethnic and religious intolerance.
