Biden on Holocaust Remembrance Day: 'One of darkest chapters in history'

WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden Tweeted on Monday, “On Holocaust Remembrance Day, we grieve the 6 million Jews and millions of other innocent lives lost during one of the darkest chapters in history.”

“We can’t redeem the past,” the president wrote, “but we can commit to building a future where we uphold the values of justice, equality, and diversity.”

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, we grieve the 6 million Jews and millions of other innocent lives lost during one of the darkest chapters in history.We can't redeem the past. But we can commit to building a future where we uphold the values of justice, equality, and diversity.

— President Biden (@POTUS) April 18, 2023

Week of observance of the Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust 

Over the weekend, the president also proclaimed April 16-23, 2023 as a week of observance of the Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust, and called “upon the people of the United States to observe this week and pause to remember victims and survivors of the Holocaust.”

In his proclamation, he recognized the current wave of antisemitic incidents, and pledged that his administration “will not be indifferent” and will mobilize “the full weight of the Federal Government to fight this scourge of hate in America.”

“During Yom HaShoah and throughout these days of remembrance, we mourn the six million Jews who were murdered during the horror of the Holocaust – as well as the millions of Roma and Sinti, Slavs, disabled persons, LGBTQ individuals, and political dissidents who were murdered at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators,” the president said in his statement. “Together with courageous survivors, descendants of victims, and people around the world, we renew our solemn vow: ‘never again.’”

He went on to say, “Unfortunately, hatred never truly goes away, it only hides – lurking until it is given the oxygen to emerge again.

“We have seen this hard truth across our country, from swastikas on cars and antisemitic banners on bridges to attacks against Jewish people at schools and synagogues and outright Holocaust denialism,” Biden wrote. “The venom and violence of antisemitism goes against all the values we stand for as Americans. And it is a stark reminder – as my dear friend Elie Wiesel once said – that ‘Indifference is always the friend of the enemy.’ And as my father taught me, ‘silence is complicity.’

“My administration has not and will not be indifferent,” Biden added. He noted that the administration is “developing a national strategy to counter antisemitism – mobilizing the full weight of the Federal Government to fight this scourge of hate in America – and we have co-sponsored a United Nations resolution to combat Holocaust denial through education.”

“We secured the largest increase in funding ever for the physical security of nonprofits, including synagogues, Jewish Community Centers, Jewish day schools, and other houses of worship,” his statement reads. He also mentioned the “first-ever White House summit on combating hate-fueled violence because nobody should fear going to a religious service, wearing a symbol of their faith, or simply being who they are.”

He noted that last year, during his visit to Israel over the summer, he returned to Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, “to pay tribute to the lives that were stolen during this dark chapter of our history and to honor their memory.”

“I will never forget meeting with two survivors on that sacred ground and hearing their stories,” the president said. “The horrors of the Holocaust are painful to recount – the savage murder of innocent families and the systemic dehumanization of entire populations.

“We remember the cries for help that went unanswered and the bright futures cut short,” he continued. “We must never look away from the truth of what happened. The rite of remembrance becomes more urgent with each passing year, as fewer survivors remain to share their stories and open our eyes to the harms of unchecked hatred.’

“Hate must have no safe harbor in America or anywhere else,” Biden’s statement continued. “Today and always, we make our message clear: Evil will not win. Hate will not prevail. And the violence of antisemitism will not be the story of our time. Together, we can ensure that “never again” is a promise we keep.”