Ceremony of the 73rd anniversary of the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto

Tuesday, April 19, 2016, as every year, the Crif honored the Jewish heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto by organizing the commemorative ceremony of the 73rd anniversary of the uprising, which was held at the Memorial of the Shoah in Paris.

 

It was opened by Claude Hampel, Chairman of the Committee of Remembrance of Crif, who recalled in his speech that it was "the day of Passover, our freedom day, (that) the Nazis entered the ghetto to deport its survivors. "Jacques Fredj, the Director of the Holocaust Memorial, then spoke, being followed by the Israeli Ambassador in France, Aliza Bin Nun, who reminded that "the history of the Shoah is not summarized by death and submission". "The story of the heroic acts of the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto is one of the moral foundations of the State of Israel ... Unfortunately, over 70 years after the end of the war, anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial, have not disappeared in Europe", she added, praising "the effort of the government of France against anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial". 

 

"It is an honor for me to recall the struggle and sacrifices of these Jews confined in the ghetto. The uprising of the Warsaw ghetto was a cry thrown in the face of the world", said Andrzej Byrt, the Poland Ambassador in France. 

 

Roger Cukierman, President of Crif, reminded that "the creators of Crif, during the Second World war, wanted the duty of remeberance to be one of his essential tasks". "At a time when Jews are killed only because they are Jews, it is essential to recall the memory of our brothers. Warsaw ghetto fighters emerged from the night, from the well, to die, and to show us, their descendants, that there is always hope when one has the courage to say no. They marked the rebirth of the Jewish people, the refusal of annihilation... it is their courage that has guided the founding of the State of Israel... We owe them respect, loyalty and love, because they gave us, they give us the pride of being Jewish", stressed the President of CRIF.

 

Finally, the President of UEJF, Sacha Reingewirtz, recalled that "the fight against anti-Semitism is on, battle after battle, also in the field of universities". "Transmitting the memory of the fighting insurgents in the Warsaw ghetto is remembering that the battle is never lost and will draw confidence in facing the future," he concluded.

 

His address was followed by the reading of the poem "I had a face, like you, a mouth praying, like you...", by Noam Morgensztern, from the Comedie Française. Finally, the anthem of the Vilnius ghetto, whichbecame the anthem of the Jewish Resistance, was sung by Talila.