Official website of the President of Russia

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The message reads, in part:

“International Holocaust Remembrance Day calls our attention to one of the greatest tragedies of World War II. This mournful date reminds us of the grief and unbearable suffering endured by millions of Jews, Roma, Russians and people of other nationalities who were murdered by the Nazis and their accomplices in concentration camps, during punitive operations and through brutal ethnic cleansing campaigns.

We will never forget these monstrous crimes, which were brought to an end by the Red Army. We bow our heads to the heroism of its officers and soldiers, who saved the Jewish people and other nations from annihilation. We honour the courage and resilience of all those who, in the face of the most severe trials, did not submit – who fought in partisan units and underground movements, worked on the home front, and made their contribution to the defeat of the enemy and the achievement of the Great Victory.

I am confident that commemorative events marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz prisoners by Soviet troops will continue to promote the consolidation of efforts to counter xenophobia, Russophobia and antisemitism, as well as attempts to revive the inhuman Nazi ideology. They will help advance patriotic and humanistic values, and the ideals of harmony and civic peace in society, especially among the younger generation.”