Georgian Parliament marks Holocaust Remembrance Day, highlights lessons for humanity

Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili commemorated Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday, stressing the importance of remembering the atrocities and the lessons they carry for contemporary society.

“Today we observe Holocaust Remembrance Day and join the civilized world in recognising this as a peak of crime in the twentieth century,” Papuashvili said during a ceremony. He described the murder of six million Jews as an indelible tragedy that shook Europe and left a permanent mark on humanity’s collective consciousness.

Papuashvili stressed that the commemoration honours innocent people targeted solely because of their ethnicity. “It was a denial of humanity, a devaluation of life, and an attempt at the self-destruction of civilisation,” he said.

He warned against forgetting history or reducing it to abstract symbols. “History compresses, lessons fade, and new generations may struggle to fully comprehend the past. Holocaust Remembrance Day should not be merely symbolic; it must be a loud reminder, a clear declaration of what happened, why it happened, what allowed such evil, and its consequences for humanity,” Papuashvili said.

The speaker also highlighted the role of Georgians in defeating fascism and underlined the enduring values of empathy, hospitality, and protection of the vulnerable. “No justification can ever exist for hatred or incitement of violence. Silence and inaction were among the main preconditions that made the Holocaust possible,” he added.

Papuashvili stressed the need for society to recognise the boundaries between what is acceptable and unacceptable, warning that hatred often begins small but can escalate to global consequences. “Civilisation must always stand on the side of peace, seek balance, and build relationships based on respect and tolerance,” he said.

The event, held at the National Library of Georgia, included remarks by Israel’s Ambassador to Georgia and a presentation of a Holocaust Remembrance Day contest organised by the Israeli Embassy with support from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports.

The ceremony was attended by parliamentarians, executive officials, members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Georgia, and the Public Defender.