Azerbaijan's contribution to memory of Holocaust

Holocaust Week, launched this Tuesday in Azerbaijan, is an extremely important event for preserving the historical memory of this crime against humanity, as it helps to protect the world from the recurrence of such tragedies, the experts said, speaking with the correspondents of Vestnik Kavkaza.

This event is taking place at the ADA University, the Youth Center of Binagadi District and the Baku Oxford School. Today, the ADA organized a discussion on preserving the historical memory of the Holocaust with the participation of representatives of the university, the Azerbaijani representation of the United Nations, as well as the embassies of Israel, Germany, Japan, Italy and Poland.

Holding the Holocaust Week in Azerbaijan was highly appreciated in Israel. Israeli political scientist Yury Bocharov called this event one of the brightest manifestations of friendship between the two states and their peoples. "I wholeheartedly welcome the position of Azerbaijan on this issue. The Azerbaijan-Israel ties and, more broadly, Azerbaijan-Jewry have always been light pages of Azerbaijani history, the friendship of our peoples has been unchanged through the whole history of independent Azerbaijan up to the present day," he stressed.

"We can only welcome the holding of Holocaust Week in Azerbaijan. I am glad that Baku pays such attention to this issue, it's really great, because, in principle, Azerbaijan is one of the few our true friends in the Muslim world. We welcome this event, especially since the memory of the Holocaust should be alive in the whole world as a memory of the genocide, which remained relevant even after the war - it is enough to recall events in the Middle East, in Korea, Cambodia, Sudan," Yury Bocharov said.

The same point of view was expressed by the head of the press service of the Russian Jewish Congress, Mikhail Savin. "The Holocaust was the greatest tragedy for both the Jewish people and the whole of humanity, as is it has exceeded the scope of the history of one nationality. That is why the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 is internationally celebrated. For the fourth year such important actions are held in Russia at the federal level with the participation of leading Russian politicians," he pointed out.

Azerbaijan's focus on preserving historical memory was noted by the first vice-president of the International Human Rights Movement 'The World without Nazism' Valery Engel. "Holding such commemorative events dedicated to the Holocaust honors the Azerbaijani government. The country preserves the memory about Azerbaijani residents' participation in the Great Patriotic War - and in the same way it remembers the Holocaust, which is very important," he said.

"People were killed for belonging to a certain group - a Jew could become a Christian or a Muslim, anyone, but he was still killed. This crime concerns everyone, because as long as we remember the Holocaust, we have protection, vaccination against any Nazism. The most terrible thing today is that there are people who deny the Holocaust .Therefore such commemorative events must take place in all the countries in order to preserve the memory of the Holocaust and extend protection from its repetition in history," Valery Engel concluded.