Rasi: Holocaust Was Crime against Humanity, Truth Must Be Told

Bratislava, 9 September (TASR) - The Holocaust was a crime against humanity, and anti-semitism, which created the conditions for it to take place, has no place in a democratic society, House Chair Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) stated at a memorial ceremony on Wednesday marking the Day of Victims of the Holocaust and Racial Violence. The ceremony was held at the Holocaust Memorial on Rybne Namestie square in Bratislava. Rasi called the Holocaust one of the most painful chapters in Slovak history. "We must speak openly and truthfully about this part of our history. The Slovak [wartime] state and its representatives also bore their share of responsibility for the persecution and deportation of their own Jewish citizens," Rasi underlined. According to the parliamentary chair, history cannot be changed according to what is convenient. Respect for one's own country, he said, isn't demonstrated by selecting only those parts of its past of which one can be proud, but by acknowledging the moments when society failed, learning from them and ensuring that such moments aren't repeated. A democratic state must always stand on the side of human dignity, freedom and equality before the law, said Rasi, adding that the protection of these values doesn't begin only during major crises, but in everyday life, including via mutual respect. Rejecting anti-semitism, racism, xenophobia and all forms of intolerance should be a shared responsibility. Wednesday's memorial ceremony should also serve as a reminder of what the Jewish community has given to Slovakia over the centuries and continues to give to it today, said the parliamentary chair. Jewish citizens were and remain part of the story of Slovakia's towns and villages, culture, economy, science, medicine, education and social life. "Behind the individual names and stories are generations of people who have helped to create the country in which we live today," stated Rasi. Slovakia marks 9 September as a memorial day — the Day of Victims of the Holocaust and Racial Violence. On 9 September 1941, the government of the wartime Slovak state adopted the Jewish Code, which established a special legal regime for citizens of Jewish origin and faith and fundamentally restricted their civil, religious, social and basic human rights. The decree was a compilation of legal provisions concerning the social, economic and civic degradation of Jews, which culminated in their deportation to Nazi concentration camps. mf/df