The Holocaust is a dark page in the history of mankind, which cannot and should not be forgotten. The Moldovan Parliament’s Declaration of 2016, which provides for the studying of the Holocaust, is a sign of maturity and a proof that we are ready as a society to assume the horrors of the past so as to be able to build the future where such tragedies would never happen, acting Prime Minister Aureliu Ciocoi, outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, stated in a video roundtable meeting centering on the National Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 26, IPN reports.

Aureliu Ciocoi said the education and training of the young generations in the spirit of the moral values, promotion of the national and universal culture, stimulation of the intercultural dialogue in the spirit of the universal values of the basic human rights and freedoms are among the main instruments by which we can keep the memory of this tragedy, learn the lessons of history and build an open, resilient and peaceful society.

Outgoing Minister of Education, Culture and Research Lilia Pogolșa said the optional subject “The Holocaust: History and Life Lessons” was implemented at the secondary education stage in 2020. “Owing to the concerted efforts of the Ministry and the OSCE, the teachers annually benefit from training in the implementation of the teaching instruments typical of this subject and this allows a larger number of institutions to choose this subject,” stated the official.

Lilia Pogolșa noted that the Jewish Cemetery in Chisinau, which is managed by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, was outfitted with a video security system and all the vandalized funeral monuments were cleaned or restored. About 350,000 lei was allocated from the state budget for the purpose.

The roundtable meeting was held as part of the Holocaust Remembrance Week that is staged during January 25-31 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and the Agency of Interethnic Relations in partnership with the Jewish Community in Moldova.

On the same occasion, the Embassy of Austria premieres in Chisinau the documentary “Mauthausen – Two Lives”, which is about two eyewitnesses to the horrors that happened in the concentration camp in Mauthausen, Austria, where there were deported the intellectual and social elites of the countries occupied by the Nazi regime during World War II.

The National Holocaust Remembrance Day is annually marked in Moldova on January 27.