Finci: We must not remember the Holocaust only one day a year

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - A commemorative academy dedicated to the International Day of Commemoration of the Victims of the Holocaust - January 27, which is being observed worldwide this year under the motto "We Remember", was held today at the Jewish Community in Sarajevo, in the presence of numerous representatives of political and public life and the diplomatic corps.

The President of the Jewish Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jakob Finci, stated that after the world said "never again" following the Holocaust, genocides occurred in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"We had thousands of dead simply because they have different names, pray to the same God in a different way, or because their political beliefs are different," Finci said. He emphasized that it is not enough to remember the Holocaust for only one day a year, and that school programs should address the tragedy that befell Jews and Europe.

Husnija Kamberović, a professor at the University of Sarajevo, pointed out that today in the world people witness cases of antisemitism, terrible populism, and nationalism in Europe and the world, and this does not mean, he said, that evil in the form of the Holocaust will be repeated, but that people must learn from it to become aware of the consequences.

"If we build generations that become aware that war is evil, then there is a lower probability that people will actively engage in committing crimes like those committed in history," said Professor Kamberović.