Outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar officially opened an exhibit on the Auschwitz death camp here Tuesday, which was International Human Rights Day.
“The message of the Auschwitz exhibit is not to forget,” said Perez de Cuellar. “Because it is so unimaginable but so true, our only response is to remember, to repeat, to recall in our human efforts, to say: Never again.”
“It is deeply distressing to witness across today’s world the reappearance of the blind hate and prejudice, the anti-Semitism and exclusion of different racial groups, which lay at the foundation of this genocide,” he said.
The exhibit, titled “Auschwitz: A Crime Against Humanity,” will be on public display in the lobby of the General Assembly building through Jan. 31. It consists of 150 photographs and documents provided by the Auschwitz State Museum in Poland and organized by the U.S. Holocaust Museum.
Joining the museums in sponsoring the exhibit are the Republic of Poland, the International Auschwitz Committee and the United Nations Center for Human Rights.
Ambassadors from 23 countries, including Israel, the United States and most of Europe, are honorary co-hosts of the display.
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