International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Press Statement
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
January 30, 2012
Last
week, the United States joined countries throughout the world in
marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day. We paused to honor the
memory of the six million Jews and millions of others who were murdered
at the hands of the Nazis. As President Obama said, we recommitted
ourselves to “keeping their memories alive not only in our thoughts, but
through our actions.” This is a time to reflect on the meaning and
lessons of “Never Forget, Never Again.”
This past year, we have
seen Holocaust denial increasing throughout Europe, Asia, South America,
and the Middle East. There has been an upsurge in anti-Semitic acts,
including hateful graffiti, cemetery desecrations, verbal and physical
assaults on Jews, incitement to anti-Semitic violence, and cartoons
demonizing Jews.
Denying the truth of the Holocaust is an insult
to history. We urge governments, civil society leaders, clerics, human
rights groups, and all people of conscience in all nations to speak out
against this kind of hatred. The United States will work with all of
those who are committed to a world free of anti-Semitism and all other
forms of ethnic or religious intolerance.