Czech Senate marks Holocaust Memorial Day

An official ceremony took place at the Czech Senate on Monday marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The gathering was attended by politicians, representatives of the country’s Jewish and Roma communities and people who survived Nazi concentration camps.

A speech written by the late speaker of the Senate Jaroslav Kubera and delivered by the Civic Democrat senator Jiří Oberfalzer warned against the rising hatred, fanaticism and antisemitism in Europe.

The event was held on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest of the Nazi death camps, where over 1.5 million Jews lost their lives.

Close to six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, with 250 000 of them from the former Czechoslovakia.

Author: Ruth Fraňková