Speaking at the unveiling of a memorial to the first Jews transported to Nazi concentration camps, Czech President Vaclav Havel last week warned that ethnic pride and racism could lead to a repetition of the Nazi horrors.
“Somewhere deep in the last casual anti-Semitic remark or involuntary racist statement is raised the specter of a gas chamber or pogrom,” Havel said.
“In every concession to a bully is raised the danger that new wheel of horrors will begin to turn,” he said.
Havel offered the warning at ceremonies marking the 55th anniversary of the first deportations of Jews from the Moravian city of Ostrava to the town of Nisko in Poland.
The deportations of 900 Jewish prisoners, ordered by Adolf Eichmann shortly after German troops occupied what was then Czechoslovakia, were the first of their king in pre-war Europe.
Highlighting the commemoration was the unveiling of a memorial to the 900 deportees. The memorial, located in Ostrava’s former Jewish cemetery, is shaped in the form of a menorah carved in stone.
Also attending the ceremonies were survivors of the deportations from Ostrava, Czech Chief Rabbi Karol Sidon, Czech Consul in Israel Chanan Rosen and representatives of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.
The unveiling of the memorial was accompanied by the opening of an exhibit in Ostrava’s town hall that displayed photos and documents of the deportees. The anniversary was also marked with a conference on the Holocaust at Ostrava University.
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