Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-01-26-Speech-3-141"
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"en.20050126.8.3-141"2
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"The Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp was liberated 60 years ago. Auschwitz was not the only death camp built by Hitler’s Third Reich on Polish territory it had conquered and occupied, but it was the largest death factory in human history. One and a half million people were exterminated in Auschwitz on an industrial scale, using mechanical means. One hundred and fifty thousand Poles were deported to Auschwitz, half of whom were killed. Fifteen thousand Russian prisoners of war were also killed in Auschwitz, and Czech, Belarussian, French, Slovenian, Ukrainian, Latvian, Dutch and even Chinese people died there. The prisoners even included 2000 Germans. The Roma were destined to a certain death, with 20 000 of them killed. The overwhelming majority of victims, however, were Jews, one million of whom were killed in Auschwitz. This figure included elderly people, young people, women and children. The sheer horror of the Holocaust lies not only in the enormous scale of the crime, but in the fact that all Jews, irrespective of who they were, what they believed, what they did or what country they came from – and even those who had not yet been born – were condemned to extermination by Hitler and the German Nazis.
The fact that the House has acknowledged how important it is to remember this crime is of great significance. Sixty years have passed since the liberation of Auschwitz. This is not just an arbitrary date, as ever fewer witnesses remain with us. Living memory is ending, and history is beginning. The duty to tell the whole truth about this tragedy rests with those of us who are alive, and who were fortunate enough to be born at a later date. We owe this to the millions who were exterminated.
The founding act of the International Education Centre about Auschwitz and the Holocaust will be read out tomorrow before the gates of Auschwitz. The Centre has been set up on the initiative of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, with the support of the International Auschwitz Council, whose director, Władysław Bartoszewski, was himself a prisoner in Auschwitz. He has said that, and I quote: ‘Soon our burden will be taken over by historians, scholars and teachers. This is why we turn to them and ask them to share the memory of the victims of Auschwitz and the Holocaust, to deepen understanding of the mechanisms of hatred and contempt, and to promote dialogue and cooperation to prevent such mechanisms from coming into play’. We politicians have a particular duty to ensure that we do not interpret historical facts to suit individual political interests. Even if there are noble motives for doing so, forgetting or distorting history
will not help us to build lasting understanding or peace. The sturdiest foundation for the reconciliation of nations is humility before the historical truth, as this is the only way in which forgiveness can be achieved.
We cannot change the tragic nature of history, but it can at least act as a warning to the rest of the world. I respect the comments made today by Mr Schulz. Nonetheless, given that the Polish Members of this House and the European People’s Party support the adoption of a joint resolution tomorrow by this House, I would ask you, Mr Schulz, to agree to adopt a different position, so that you yourself and your party can vote in favour of what we originally wanted, namely a clear statement to the effect that the Nazis were German Nazis."@en1
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