Statement by President Obama on Yom HaShoah
(April 19, 2012)
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
On this Holocaust Remembrance Day, I join people of
all faiths across the United States, in Israel and around the world
in paying tribute to all who suffered in the Shoah—a horrific
crime without parallel in human history. We honor the memory of six
million innocent men, women and children who were sent to their deaths
simply because of their Jewish faith. We stand in awe of those who fought
back, in the ghettos and in the camps, against overwhelming odds. And
in the year of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Raoul Wallenberg,
we are humbled by the rescuers who refused to be bystanders to evil.
On this day, and all days, we must do more than remember.
We must resolve that “never again” is more than an empty
slogan. As individuals, we must guard against indifference in our hearts
and recognize ourselves in our fellow human beings. As societies, we
must stand against ignorance and anti-Semitism, including those who
try to deny the Holocaust. As nations, we must do everything we can
to prevent and end atrocities in our time. This is the work I will advance
when I join survivors and their families at the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum on Monday. This must be the work of us all, as nations
and peoples who cherish the dignity of every human being.
Sources: The
White House |