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President of the German Parliament Norbert Lammert speaking at a parliamentary ceremony commemorating the victims of the Holocaust in Berlin Friday. (AP)
Last update - 17:01 26/01/2008
In remembrance of Holocaust, UN chief Ban says 'never again'
By Haaretz Service and News Agencies
Tags: Holocaust, Germany, Jewish

Days before the United Nations General Assembly observes the third annual day to commemorate victims of the Holocaust, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called on the world never to let it happen again.

The 192-nation body declared three years ago that each January 27 will be the International Day in Memory of Holocaust Victims. It was the first time since the end of World War II that the UN recognized the killing of an estimated 6 million Jews and minorities by Nazi Germany.

Germany nominated the day as a national day of commemoration in 1996, while the UN named the date International Holocaust Remembrance Day in November 2005.
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On Monday, the assembly will hear addresses by survivors of Nazi death camps, including US Congressman Tom Lantos, and a concert by the Tel Aviv University Symphony conducted by Zubin Mehta. The UN plans also to issue a special stamp to mark the day.

Ban said in a statement in advance of Monday's event that the UN stands in solidarity with Holocaust victims and their families around the world.

"To those who claim that the Holocaust never happened, or has been exaggerated, we respond by reiterating our determination to honor the memory of every innocent man, woman and child murdered at the hands of the Nazis and their accomplices," Ban said.

"We mourn the systematic genocide of one-third of the Jewish people, along with members of minorities, which deprived the world of untold contributions," he said.

He called for a "sense of vigilance" and measures to thwart intolerance from happening again. The UN celebrates this year the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Ban said will be an occasion to again remind the world of the Holocaust.

"Let us never take our human rights for granted," he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday said it was a miracle that Jewish life had returned to Germany 63 years after the Holocaust. The chancellor spoke ahead of an international Holocaust remembrance day to be marked Sunday.

Still, during a speech at a conference in Berlin, she voiced concern that "anti-Semitism and anti-foreigner sentiment survive today," and that even educated people were susceptible to crude thoughts and disguised anti-Semitism.

Earlier Friday, in a ceremony commemorating the victims of the Nazi genocide, the President of the German parliament (Bundestag) Norbert Lammert said that it was "shaming" that Jewish institutions still require special police protection.

"We remember an unthinkable crime against humanity and a systematic mass murder," Lammert said.

"After the bitter experiences of the last century, we do not tolerate any kind of extremism, racism and anti-Semitism - nowhere in the world and especially not in Germany," Lammert added.

Excerpts from writings by Czech author Lenka Reinerova were read aloud in the parliamentary session, which was attended by Merkel as well as German President Horst Koehler.

The United Nations established January 27 as an annual Holocaust remembrance day, marking the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp in Poland.

The day, which falls on a Sunday this year, was marked across Germany on Friday.

Former Israeli ambassador to Germany Avi Primor praised the way the country has confronted its Nazi past, saying at the state parliament of Thuringia "where have you ever in the world seen a nation that puts up memorials to commemorate its own shame?"

"Only the Germans have had the courage and the humility," he added.

Writing in the national daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung Friday, the president of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald Lauder, said the Holocaust had led directly to the founding of the state of Israel.

"The existence of Israel as a Jewish state continued to be questioned in Europe, even though Israel was the only country in the region that had maintained a stable democracy for 60 years," Lauder said.

Lauder warned against ignoring the dangers from Iran and its nuclear program.

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  1.   German Parliament should pay more attention to the 14:13  |  KMS 25/01/08
  2.   Shoah 15:05  |  Mike 25/01/08
  3.   I agree with KMS 15:24  |  nobodysacred 25/01/08
  4.   OPPRESSED PALESTINIANS HAVE NO PROTECTION 17:26  |  TrippleJump 25/01/08
  5.   So sad that arabs (KMS?) pollute our tragedy 18:12  |  Survivor 25/01/08
  6.   Maybe GErman racism towards Mulsims is shaming too 18:25  |  Mark B. 25/01/08
  7.   Germany`s Holocaust lesson 18:25  |  Klaus Bloemker 25/01/08
  8.   more german LIES 18:28  |  Survivor 25/01/08
  9.   Posting 1-5 and all the others still coming, you got a problem! 18:44  |  Karl 25/01/08
  10.   Reply to American (Post No. 4) 19:02  |  Johnny Weintraub 25/01/08
  11.   @ #8 Klaus Bloemker 19:05  |  Philipp 25/01/08
  12.   German carnival at Holocaust Day 19:08  |  Jonathan S 25/01/08
  13.   To # 5 19:32  |  Reuven 25/01/08
  14.   traitors 20:01  |  jorge grosz 25/01/08
  15.   @Jonathan S. the self-hating German 20:19  |  Philipp 25/01/08
  16.   How does she dare 20:34  |  Richard 25/01/08
  17.   @ #14 jorge grosz 20:35  |  Philipp 25/01/08
  18.   #14 Jewish traitors to Germany 20:50  |  Klaus Bloemker 25/01/08
  19.   Survivor (8) if you got facts put them on the table 20:59  |  Karl 25/01/08
  20.   Klaus#7 21:02  |  CANOE 25/01/08
  21.   Hey! I`m pleased to see Jonathan S around here. 21:22  |  christoph 25/01/08
  22.   #8 German submarines to Israel 21:26  |  Klaus Bloemker 25/01/08
  23.   Klaus (7), you are blaming those for assaulting 21:38  |  Karl 25/01/08
  24.   Germany has no wall 21:43  |  Serge Pascal 25/01/08
  25.   About the German-Palestinian connection 21:43  |  Jonathan S 25/01/08
  26.   Stormtroopers to Isarel - #8 21:45  |  Klaus Bloemker 25/01/08
  27.   # 10 weintraub 21:53  |  Axrel 25/01/08
  28.   Christoph - security for Jewish community 21:58  |  Klaus Bloemker 25/01/08
  29.   For #8 about the bomb for the mullahs 22:02  |  Jonathan S 25/01/08
  30.   # 20 canoe from canada 22:03  |  Axel 25/01/08
  31.   For #8 and the fairy tale about the German subs 22:12  |  Jonathan S 25/01/08
  32.   # 20 canoe 22:14  |  Axel 25/01/08
  33.   To Klaus Blömker (re various posts) 22:22  |  Morris Valentine 25/01/08
  34.   To Klaus Bloemker (#28) 22:29  |  christoph 25/01/08
  35.   To Axel (#10), with apologies 22:32  |  Morris Valentine 25/01/08
  36.   Jonathan (29), "state TV reported" quote the source please,... 22:35  |  Karl 25/01/08
  37.   Jonathan (#29), if you aren`t jealous of our love then be content 22:43  |  christoph 25/01/08
  38.   Jonathan`s nonsense #25 22:50  |  Klaus Bloemker 25/01/08
  39.   Jonathan (12), if you read the artcile properly you may find 23:09  |  Karl 25/01/08
  40.   About the Israel bashers from Germany 23:15  |  Jonathan S 25/01/08
  41.   # 38Klaus does not know 23:21  |  Richard 25/01/08
  42.   Christoph`s Neo-Nazis #34 23:54  |  Klaus Bloemker 25/01/08
  43.   Germany, #17 23:57  |  jorge grosz 25/01/08
  44.   submarines, Mr. Klaus 00:04  |  Jorge Grosz 26/01/08
  45.   # 39 jorge 00:18  |  Axel 26/01/08
  46.   German Palestinian Love Affair #25 00:19  |  Truth Seeker 26/01/08
  47.   # 40 jorge 00:24  |  Axel 26/01/08
  48.   Germany, unlike many others, understand too well the danger of 00:30  |  Marwan مروان خوري 26/01/08
  49.   #7 Bloemker 00:54  |  roland 26/01/08
  50.   This talkback 00:55  |  Wind of Change 26/01/08
  51.   Klaus Bloemker 00:58  |  Birgit 26/01/08
  52.   klaus Bloemker 01:03  |  Jens 26/01/08
  53.   How about a REMEMBERENCE for the 3 other German genocides !!! 01:15  |  Anthony Fallon 26/01/08
  54.   Klaus Bloemker (#39), I`ll tell you 01:17  |  christoph 26/01/08
  55.   Jonathan S & Germany 01:29  |  birgit 26/01/08
  56.   marketing advice for Isarel`s friends 01:31  |  Klaus Bloemker 26/01/08
  57.   Jews 02:46  |  John 26/01/08
  58.   #21 why are u so glad ? 03:07  |  Alex 26/01/08
  59.   Kms?Kiss my sac 04:09  |  Travis 26/01/08
  60.   never again doesn`t apply to us 04:32  |  proud joo 26/01/08
  61.   Wow, and to claim after these posts that Germany 05:09  |  Taszilo 26/01/08
  62.   The UN chief deserves a medal for uttering these words! 05:59  |  Figaro 26/01/08
  63.   It`s Not Too Late To Bomb Auschwitz 05:59  |  Joseph E . post 1 26/01/08
  64.   Why Didn`t We Bomb Auschwitz ? 06:00  |  Joseph E . post 2 26/01/08
  65.   What a nice thing, now back to work 06:00  |  B. 26/01/08
  66.   Why Didn`t We Bomb Auschwitz ? 06:01  |  Joseph E . Post 3 26/01/08
  67.   KMS 06:14  |  sWeis Melbourne 26/01/08
  68.   Axel # 32_ Why Our Claim Is Superior To Others 06:41  |  Eli 26/01/08
  69.   Asslamists had a Website, spreading that holocaust 06:56  |  Cristo 26/01/08
  70.   Just imagine how much better and stronger..... 07:08  |  R 26/01/08