Israel's Ambassador: In Europe, anti-Semitism is part of society; goverments must fight against it

Ambassador of the State of Israel David Saranga said that anti-Semitism, xenophobia, racism are part of the society in Europe and each government must fight against them.

"We live in a hard era, we see here and throughout Europe that anti-Semitism, xenophobia, racism are part of the society. Each government must fight against the respective phenomena. (...) The European values don't go hand in hand with anti-Semitism or with xenophobia," Saranga said at a ceremony organised by the Capital's Sector 6 hall at the Memorial of the Holocaust to mark the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, which was followed by a symposium at the Palace of Parliament.

Saranga brought to mind that 27 January is the day when the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp was liberated. "We must think that the Holocaust took place all over Europe. Before WWII, 800,000 Jews lived on Romanian soil. Half of them, 400,000 Jews were killed here, in Romania. There is no future without a past and memory is an important part of the past. (...) The Romanian Government does a lot to keep memory alive," the Ambassador said.

He brought to mind that President Klaus Iohannis paid a visit to Israel last week, alongside over 40 heads of state to commemorate the Holocaust Day.

In Saranga's opinion, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban's presence in Auschwitz on Monday, together with Israel's President and several other dignitaries, shows Romania has assumed its responsibility and has the obligation to preserve the memory of the Holocaust.