27 January 2014, 09:00
To the organizers and participants of the All-Ukrainian event
dedicated to the International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Dear fellow citizens!
On January 27 the international community commemorates victims of the Holocaust. This date, dedicated to liberation of prisoners from the death camp “Auschwitz” in 1945, was designated by the UN resolution.
In 2011 the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a decision on an annual commemoration of this day on a national level.
Commemorating victims of fascism, conducting All-Ukrainian event “Six million hearts” and mourning ceremonies all over our country are destined not only to preserve tragic pages of the history of the past, but also to build a liveable future where there will be no violence, hatred and discrimination.
It is necessary to apply maximum efforts for the future generation of Ukrainians to have an opportunity to form a world view under conditions of tolerance, peace and a proper attitude to multicultural and universal human values, as well as respect to all ethnical and religious groups.
Today we commemorate innocent victims and also those brave people who, by risking their own lives, saved Jews and representatives of other nationalities from dying during the war. We bow low to their heroic deeds.
Holocaust represents pain and death. It is horror that can never repeat again. It is a bell tolling over millions of lost people. It is memory that will forever live in our hearts.
Volodymyr RYBAK