Kathmandu _International Holocaust Day was celebrated in the capital on Monday by lighting 6 candles in memory of 6 million Jews, including 1.5 million children, who were brutally murdered during the state-sponsored and planned Holocaust by the Nazi regime from the 1930s to the 40s. Member of National Human Rights Commission, Dr. Surya Prasad Sharma Dhungel commented that the Holocaust was not only a tragedy for the Jewish community or Europe, but the darkest day of human history. He stressed that the Jewish community is still mentally suffering from the horror of the Holocaust and pointed out the need to be aware of the need to prevent such barbarity from happening again.
Benjamin Seidel, the deputy head of the German Embassy in the event, insisted that the Holocaust started with words of hatred rather than the gas chamber, and said that such brutality and cruelty cannot be tolerated in a democracy. Informing that Germany stands firmly against such discrimination, he highlighted the fact that Germany is now Israel’s largest trading partner.
Likewise, Israel’s Ambassador Shmulik Ari Bash asserted that the barbarism and human tragedy against the Jewish community is always a warning to the world and said that the International Holocaust Day will alert everyone to prevent such tragedies from repeating.
US Ambassador Dean R. Thompson said that we have a shared responsibility to stand against crimes against humanity, racial discrimination, and all forms of hatred and intolerance. Ambassador Thompson also conveyed the message of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s unwavering support for Holocaust survivors and their descendants.
In the event, the students of Himali Boarding School and Kathmandu Pragya Kunj School made everyone emotional by presenting group songs and music, and a photo exhibition titled Auschwitz (A Place on Earth) was also held with the aim of conveying the message that such barbarism should never be repeated by giving information about man-made cruelty.
In the program, information was also given that the photo exhibition will be held at Himali Boarding School from January 28 to February 2 and at Kathmandu Pragya Kunj School from February 3 to 9.