International Holocaust Memorial Day

Kia ora koutou

Shalom

I particularly acknowledge

The Honourable Mark Mitchell, Minister for Ethnic Communities; Members of Parliament; Dr Stephen Rainbow, Human Rights Commissioner; Consular representatives; Auckland City Councillors; Board Members of the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, and Survivors of the Holocaust and descendants of survivors who are with us today

It's a great privilege to be part of this gathering, and heartening to know that communities around New Zealand and all over the world are also observing United Nations International Holocaust Day.

What brings us together is the most sorrowful of remembrance of the millions of European Jews who suffered and died as a result of Nazi persecution.

We mourn the brutal obliteration of centuries of European Jewish culture, and we salute the courage of survivors, whose brave testament has played such a vital role in our understanding of the Holocaust.

This is a day to reflect on the nature of humanity and inhumanity, good and evil, despair and resilience. It is a day to reaffirm community, the strength of the human spirit, and our resolve that the horrors of the Holocaust are never erased from global memory.

There is a whakatauki about learning from history: Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua, which translates as: "I walk backwards into the future, with my eyes firmly on the past". It suggests that we cannot make real progress without learning the lessons of the past.

The future belongs to our young people, and they will be tasked with remembrance of the Holocaust. Now that this history will be part of the curriculum, and they learn about those dreadful times in the 1930s and 1940s, they will see how disinformation and propaganda were harnessed to erode social norms, dehumanise Jewish people, and sanction acts of unspeakable inhumanity.

Inevitably, they will see disturbing parallels of this process in the present day, and my hope is that they will understand their responsibility to not stand by, indifferent and silent, when they witness bigotry.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, New Zealand was closely involved in the establishment of the United Nations, which sought to establish and maintain an agreed ruled-based order for the world.

There was a collective desire to build what President Harry Truman described as "a new world - a far better world - one in which the eternal dignity of human beings is respected."

Our continued support for that vision of mutual respect, justice and equality comes with the knowledge that it will always be a work in progress, frequently challenged and undermined.

Last month's massacre of 15 members of Sydney's Jewish community was the cruellest reminder that anti-Semitism is still with us, and that extreme bigotry can lead to fatal consequences.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, an estimated 27 percent of our population was born overseas. The world's great religions are represented amongst our many diverse communities.

A central tenet shared by those religions is that we must act towards others as we would wish them to act towards us, a principle that underpinned President Truman's vision of mutual respect between the peoples of the world.

Today, as we remember millions of people who were victims of the very worst of human nature, we owe it to their memory to continue to work for a better world, a world where difference is embraced, where we stand up for truth, justice and humanity.

The vision of a better world rests not just with nations and their leaders, but also with us at an individual level, where we choose to do our very best to be a caring neighbour, an active citizen, and a role model of tolerance and integrity for our children.

Only then can we be sure to create communities where people from any background can live in dignity and free from fear.