Bishop Markowski: Today we want to pay tribute to all the Victims of the Holocaust

Bishop Markowski recalled that Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed on the anniversary of the liberation of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau and "recalls a tragedy that we must not forget."

"The planned and systematic extermination of the Jewish people, the imprisonment and murder of citizens of almost all the countries of Europe occupied by Nazi Germany—all of this was trampling outrageously on the gift of human life, dignity, and freedom," Bishop Markowski emphasized in the message.

He added that on this day we also remember the heroic attitudes of many people, known and unknown by name, who, like St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, "did not let themselves be overcome by evil, but overcame it with the power of good." "May their stories motivate us to responsibly strive for peace, for respect for the life, dignity, and freedom of every person and nation," Bishop Markowski noted.

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Message
from the Chairman of the Committee of the Polish Bishops' Conference for Dialogue with Judaism
on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day

The International Holocaust Remembrance Day, celebrated on the anniversary of the liberation of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, recalls a tragedy that we must not forget. In 2005, on the occasion of this day, St. John Paul II wrote: "No one must be indifferent to the tragedy of the Shoah. This attempt at the planned destruction of an entire people casts a shadow over Europe and the entire world; it is a crime that has forever stained the history of humanity."

The experience of the Holocaust stands in glaring contradiction to the commandment "You shall love your neighbor as yourself". Created in the likeness of God, man was, together with the gift of life, given dignity and freedom. The planned and systematic extermination of the Jewish people, the imprisonment and murder of citizens of almost all the countries of Europe occupied by Nazi Germany—all of this was trampling outrageously on the gift of human life, dignity, and freedom. "This unspeakable cruelty must never be repeated," Pope Francis said yesterday. He appealed to everyone, especially educators and families, "to foster in the new generations an awareness of the horror of this black page of history. It must not be forgotten, so that we may build a future where human dignity is no longer trampled underfoot."

Today we want to pay tribute to all the victims of the Holocaust. We keep the memory of their tragic fate, firmly believing that God is the God of Life, and man lives forever in God. We also remember the heroic attitudes of many people, known and unknown by name, who, like St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, did not let themselves be overcome by evil, but overcame it with the power of good. May their stories motivate us to responsibly strive for peace, for respect for the life, dignity, and freedom of every person and nation.

 Bishop Rafał Markowski
Chairman of the Committee of the Polish Bishops' Conference for Dialogue with Judaism 

 Warsaw, 27 January 2022

(Translated from Polish: Sr. Paschale Nau / Office for Foreign Communication of the Polish Bishops' Conference)