The Croatian Parliament started its session on Thursday with a minute of silence for Holocaust victims, with Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic saying that "the Holocaust had begun with hate speech and ended in acts of evil."

“The Holocaust is an eternal reminder of what kind of evil may result from xenophobia and racism,” Jandrokovic said in his address for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is observed on 27 January.

On 27 January 1945, the Red Army liberated the largest Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, the infamous symbol of the Holocaust and genocide of six million Jews in the Second World War.

“Monstrous crimes were committed in Auschwitz, which has remained a lasting symbol of places where people were systematically tortured and brutally killed just because they belonged to a particular ethnic group,” Jandrokovic said.

He recalled the Jasenovac camp in Croatia where members of the pro-Nazi Ustasha regime had killed Jews, Roma, Serbs and Croats.

“Today we also remember the victims of other genocides and unspeakable crimes. We remember Vukovar, Skabrnja, Srebrenica and other places where innocent people were killed” during the wars of the 1990s, Jandrokovic said.

He also recalled that during the dark times of the Holocaust there had been people who had risked their own lives to save others.  Among them were 120 people from Croatia who have been named Righteous among the Nations, he added.

Jandrokovic said that the theme of this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day was “remembrance, dignity and justice”, underlining the importance of showing respect for the victims, safeguarding the historical facts and fighting against their distortion.

“These are the preconditions to ensure that justice is served and to prevent a repetition of such crimes in the future. The Holocaust is an eternal reminder of what kind of evil may result from xenophobia and racism,” Jandrokovic said.

He said that the present, fast-changing world is facing a pandemic, natural disasters and an economic crisis, along with the increase in fake news, misinformation, hate speech, xenophobia, racism and intolerance on social networks. “That is contrary to the values of peace and freedom, inviolability of human dignity, equality and respect for human and minority rights.”

Jandrokovic said that the messages for International Holocaust Remembrance Day remind us that we can overcome hatred and evil through individual and collective efforts and remain committed to safeguarding the historical truths and the dignity of every person. He stressed the importance of fostering the culture of remembrance and spreading messages of peace, solidarity and acceptance of others.