The German Embassy and the US Embassy in Cairo have hosted a joint commemoration ceremony to remember and honor the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and recount the crimes of the German Nazi Regime.
The Holocaust marks the darkest chapter of German history and must never be forgotten. Germany is committed to drawing the lessons from its past for the present and the future. Speaking during the event, German Ambassador Frank Hartmann stressed: “It is our duty as a nation and as humans, to keep the memory alive and make sure that history does not repeat itself. Never forget, and never again. This became a supreme priority of our education, and of our Foreign Policy. Today this means fighting against any kind of discrimination, racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Islamism, and hate, which is again on the rise in our societies. This begins at the grass-root level of our societies, in education in schools, and in local and religious communities.”
United States Chargé d’Affaires Daniel Rubinstein added: “This event, along with similar remembrances taking place around the world, shows that efforts to commemorate these terrible events, and to support Holocaust education and remembrance, are taking root. It is a lamentable fact that the further the evils of the Holocaust recede into the past, the more crucial it is for humanity to absorb their lessons, particularly in the face of denial and disinformation.”
Among the speakers and guests of honor were contemporary witness and Holocaust survivor Ruth Cohen, Robert Satloff, director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Dervis Hizarci from the “Kreuzberg Initiative” against antisemitism, and Prof. Nasser Kotby, nephew of Egyptian doctor Mohamed Helmy who saved Jewish people from Nazi persecution and death.
With this joint commemoration, the German Embassy and the U.S. Embassy underscore the importance of the fight against discrimination, violence, and oppression—a message with enduring relevance for the world. As friends and partners, Germany and the United States remain committed to never forget.
Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered six million Jews, as well as countless Roma, people from occupied nations, disabled persons, homosexual people, and dissidents. Commemorated on January 27 each year, International Holocaust Remembrance Day marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau by Soviet troops on January 27, 1945 and preserves the memory of the victims.
