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Ladies and gentlemen,

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Today, we remember
the liberation of

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the German concentration
and extermination camp at

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Auschwitz-Birkenau,
77 years ago.

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We look back on
the worst crime

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against humanity ever
committed: the Shoah,

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the murder of six
million European Jews,

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and the senseless
deaths of millions of others,

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victims of the Nazi terror.

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They died at the hands of
German officers and soldiers.

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They were turned against
and often betrayed by

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former friends,
colleagues or neighbours.

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German civil servants decided
and planned their deaths.

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The Wannsee Conference,

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which took place 80
years ago last week,

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reminds us of this:

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a genocide planned and
perpetrated in cold blood.

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A death sentence
for millions of men,

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women and children, set
out in by laws and paragraphs.

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A monstrous evil
presented as normality

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in a way that seems to
defy all logic and reason.

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And yet here lies
an important lesson:

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We must never stop seeing
each other as what we are:

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Friends, colleagues
and neighbours –

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fellow human beings
whose fates are intertwined

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on this planet that we share.

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The Nazi regime
tried to reduce

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people to numbers.

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In the video we just
saw the numbers burned

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 into the arms of Kitty Hart-Moxon and her mother in Auschwitz.

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But Kitty, her mother
and the millions of others

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who were persecuted,
tortured and killed

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were not numbers.

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They were people
with hopes and dreams,

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just like us.

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People with the same
right to be treated

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with dignity and respect.

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And the same right to live

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their lives in
peace and freedom.

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Ladies and gentlemen,

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77 years is the lifespan
of a generation.

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Soon, it will be

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80, 90, 100 years since
the end of the Holocaust.

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Soon, we will have to
live without the testimonies

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of the last survivors
and eye-witnesses.

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And yet we must not

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let their memory fade!

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We owe that to those
who were murdered.

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We owe it to those
who survived and

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bravely carried the burden
of their painful memories.

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But we also owe
it to ourselves:

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we who want to preserve

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our humanity by
remembering our past.

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Who want to make sure

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that history does
not repeat itself.

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I say this with deep concern:

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Antisemitism, hate speech,
agitation against Israel,

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and violence against
Jews are on the rise

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– in Germany and

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in many other countries
around the world.

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During the COVID 19 pandemic,

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we have seen disinformation
and conspiracy theories seeping

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from the internet
into people’s minds.

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And we have witnessed

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the memory of the Holocaust
being distorted on our streets

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– for instance by protesters
against COVID measures,

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wearing yellow stars with
the word “unvaccinated”.

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So, let me be very clear:

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Antisemitism has no place
in our countries.

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Free and open
societies cannot let

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the enemies of freedom
act as they please.

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That is why we must combat
all forms of antisemitism,

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discrimination, racism
and extremism, everywhere.

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Germany bears a special
responsibility for this.

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And we are grateful
to all of you

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who help us live up
to this responsibility:

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Together with Israel, we have worked
towards a recent UN resolution

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that condemns
Holocaust denial.

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I can think of no
greater honour

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than standing shoulder
to shoulder with

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our Israeli friends on this.

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Last year, we worked
with many of you

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to found a Global Task Force
against Holocaust Distortion.

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And I am deeply grateful

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to the United
Nations and UNESCO

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for their work to spread
knowledge and to fight

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antisemitism, racism and
extremism all over the world.

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It is a fight against evil

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- evil that is often
disguised as normality.

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But it is also a fight

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for our shared humanity.