The victims of the Holocaust were commemorated at a public meeting in Chisinau on January 27. Members of the Jewish community of Moldova, ordinary people and representatives of the authorities laid flowers and observed a minute’s silence in memory of the millions of people who were tortured and killed during the Holocaust. This year the meeting was held for the first time at the Memorial of Victims of Fascism, IPN reports.

Attending the event, Deputy Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family Nighina Azizov said that the International Holocaust Remembrance Day is an occasion for the people to think about what happened and why millions of human beings lived moments of horror. “We must make effort to ensure the basic human rights are respected. Each person should respect the principle of tolerance. It is important to know the history and not to repeat the mistakes,” she stated.

The head of the Jewish community in Moldova Alexandru Bilinkis said that practically each family of Jews has members who were tortured during the Holocaust. “We are in the place where thousands of people were tortured and shot at the start of World War II. The people were taken out of ghettos and shot here,” he said.

Lilia Bolocan, director general of the Bureau for Interethnic Relations, said she is proud that the Bureau lent a hand for the International Holocaust Remembrance Day to be celebrated at national level. “The Holocaust is a lesson of tolerance and humanism promotion. It is an occasion for remembering peoples, families and children who were affected. We should do everything possible to prevent such tragedies,” she stated.

The survivors of the Auschwitz camp were freed by the Soviet troops in the afternoon of January 27, 1945. Thus, the UN General Assembly declared January 27 as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day to commemorate those 6 million Jews and people of other nationalities who died in concentration camps and ghettos.