ambassador of the Russian Federation to Poland
Sergey Andreyev
Ladies and Gentlemen,
on the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the liberation by the Red Army, Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, I would like in particular to address former prisoners of Nazi extermination and concentration camps as well as combatants who fought during World War II aganist Nazi Germany and their allies. For them and for all those who are fortunately still among us, and for those who passed away we are obliged to protect the memory, which needs to be preserved complete, without any exclusions or unsaid words, to protect it against distortions to the benefit of political options, to guard the honour of the heroes who are among us and who passed away, civilians who perished from the hands of the Nazis and their supporters, in order for future generations to remember about the horror of the Holocaust and extermination camps forever. In order for mankind not to turn to such madness ever again.
Today is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 6 million Jews were victims of the Nazism, with 40 percent of them being the citizens of former Soviet Union, so we do know what the pain of the Holocaust consists in. The same atrocities awaited other so-called inferior nations: Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles, Gypsies. These plans were thwarted as a result of the victory of the anti-Nazi coalition in 1945. We appreciate the contribution of our allies into our joint victory. But in three quarters it was gained by the Soviet Union, when main forces of Nazi Germany were crushed on Soviet-German front, where together with the Red Army, Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Tatars, Jews, Armenians, Kazakhs, Georgians, Uzbeks, Azeris, Moldovans, the representatives of dozens of other nationalities, there were two Polish armies fighting.
Our country paid enormous price for the victory. 26.5 million Soviet citizens perished, while two thirds of them were civilians, victims of bombings, occupation, camps, blockades, starvation and diseases. It is our duty to remember about the victims.
To be proud of the victory is our unquestionable right. Those offending the memory of our ancestors, who crushed fascism, will never be accepted by us. Let nobody have any illusions.
Last year, when the 75th anniversary of the victory and of the end of World War II was celebrated, the world was forced to face the new challenge - the coronavirus pandemic, that reminded us all of human fragility, of the necessity to unite the efforts to prevent both new as well as old threats.
The invention of vaccines against coronavirus, is the source of hope for fighting the pandemic. While, one should remain worried about many countries where the immunity to the recurrence of Nazi principles, irresponsibility, temptation of war disputes is still alive. The memory of World War II and its victims should remain the most powerful factor of rejecting all over the world the idea of the war itself. Never again. Let the peaceful sky dominate all of us forever.
Thank you.