'Never forget': VP Duterte enjoins schools to remember the Holocaust

Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday, Jan. 26, encouraged all schools in the country to observe the International Holocaust Remembrance Day and asked for the “dangers of hate and intolerance” to never be forgotten.

Duterte, who serves as Education secretary in a concurrent capacity, urged everyone to remember the lessons of the Holocaust.

“We must remember. We must not forget the names and faces of the victims, the families torn apart, and the communities destroyed. We must remember so that we may never forget the dangers of hate and intolerance,” she said.

Duterte and Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss marked the International Holocaust Remembrance Day during a solemn commemoration at the Department of Education (DepEd) Central Office in Pasig City.

The commemoration included the lighting of six candles for the six million Jewish men, women, and children who perished in the Holocaust.

In her speech, the Vice President stressed that the people are “responsible for ensuring that the lessons of the Holocaust and the stories of its survivors are passed on to future generations.”

“We must ensure that these stories are not lost so we can learn from them and prevent such atrocities from happening again,” she added.

The Holocaust — which killed six million Jewish people in Europe in the 1930s to 1940s—is considered the world’s largest genocide in human history.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Day marks the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp on Jan. 27, 1945.

Fluss, who shared his family’s experience of the Holocaust, thanked Duterte for her commitment to teach the lessons of the great genocide to the younger generations.

The ambassador said the Vice President and her team were a “partner for leading and organizing this commemorative event,” thus “making this day a formal of commemorating the holocaust in all DepEd schools and facilities.”

During the event, he also paid tribute to late and former President Manuel Quezon’s Open Door Policy which offered asylum to the targeted Jews.

“The Philippines is a shining light. President Quezon welcomed over 1,300 Jewish refugees into the Philippines in 1939,” the envoy noted.