Credit: Gary Raynaldo  /  © Diplomatic Times /  New York ,  Jan. 21, 2020.    Holocaust  and World War II survivor  Fira  Sukelman (left) and Boris Feldman, a 99-year-old former Soviet Army soldier, attend the opening of exhibit at United Nations world  headquarters in New York marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Mr. Feldman is a leader in advocating for the rights of World War II veterans and invalids from the former Soviet Union. He is also a staunch defender of the state of Israel and has advocated passionately for the need to fight back against the rise of anti-Semitism around the world.  Ms. Stukelman, 86-years-old,  was born in Ukrainian town of Vinnitsa, lost both parents to the Nazi regime.  By the grace of God,  Ms. Stukelman survived the Holocaust and 1989,  she and her family immigrated to America, gaining  freedom from the Soviet Union. 

By Gary Raynaldo        DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED  NATIONS  –  NEW  YORK  –   “NEVER AGAIN!”   NEVER AGAIN!”   Seventy-five years ago, when soldiers of the Soviet army entered the Auschwitz concentration camp in occupied Poland, they were “stunned into silence” by what they saw, UN Secretary-General António Guterres recalled on Tuesday.  The UN chief made the remarks  at the opening of exhibit at the UN marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.  

“I will never forget my visit to Yad Vashem two years ago”,  Guterres recalled, referring to The World Holocaust Remembrance Center located in Jerusalem.  “I was shocked once again by the ability of antisemitism to reinvent itself and re-emerge time and again, over millennia”.

Credit: Gary Raynaldo /  UN Secretary-General António Guterres  speaks  at opening of exhibit at the UN marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau world headquarters in New York Jan. 21, 2020. 

Pointing to “a frightening upsurge in antisemitic attacks” over the past few years, the Secretary-General spelled out: “We can never lower our guard”.  He contends that this was “part of a troubling increase in xenophobia, homophobia, discrimination and hatred of all kinds”, adding that even Nazism itself was threatening to reemerge – “sometimes openly, sometimes in disguise”.

Credit: Gary Raynaldo  /  © Diplomatic Times /  Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon  (left) with UN Secretary-General António Guterres,  Holocaust Auschwitz survivor Zoltan Matyash, and  Russia’s Permanent Representative to UN Vasily Nebenzya.  

Israel is sponsoring the photo exhibition, in coordination with the Russian Mission to the UN,  on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day that features Holocaust survivors from Israel and around the world. Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon inaugurated the exhibition, put together by the “Lonka Project” led by Rina Castelnuovo and Jim Hollander, and will be open from January 27 – February 7.

Russian Ambassador Says Truth Must be Told  About Holocaust to Prevent Future Auschwitz-type Atrocities

DIPLOMATIC  TIMES  Video /  Russia’s Permanent Representative to UN Vasily Nebenzya speaks at opening an exhibit at UN headquarters in New York marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau Jan. 21, 2020.

On 27 January 1945, the Russian Red Army liberated the prisoners of Auschwitz, the Nazi deadliest concentration camp.

“Today we say “Never Again!” and call all the others to join us for the sake of future generations that need to be aware of the truth about Holocaust and its perpetrators, no matter how disgusting and uncomfortable it may seem. We raise our voice firmly to prevent the Auschwitz-type atrocities in the future.  First of all, today we remember the survivors and the Soviet soldiers who stopped the Nazi plague by paying for this with an immense sacrifice. There are a lot of memoirs telling how deeply shocked and overwhelmed were the liberators of Auschwitz by the state of the prisoners and the inhumane conditions of their imprisonment and barbarian and sadistic methods used by their Nazi captors.”

-Russia’s  Permanent Representative to UN Vasily Nebenzya 

“Auschwitz is the place where the terrible tragedy of the past should always be a clear warning and a lesson.” – Russia ambassador  to UN added 

Credit: Gary Raynaldo  /  © Diplomatic Times /  Russia’s Permanent Representative to UN Vasily Nebenzya (left) and Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon at photo exhibition at UN on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day Jan. 21, 2020. 

Credit: Gary Raynaldo  /  © Diplomatic Times Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon (second right) poses with Holocaust and World War II survivors Jan. 21, 2020 New York. 

As Holocaust survivors grow older, the Secretary‑General stressed that it is essential that society helps keep their memories alive and carry their testimony forward in new ways for new generations.

The UN chief cited “remembrance and education” as essential parts of prevention efforts, “because ignorance creates fertile ground for false narratives and lies”.

“‘Never again’ means telling the story again and again”.

-UN Secretary General