Friends.

Today in Ukraine and the world people mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The Holocaust means "burnt" in Greek. The deliberate destruction of 6 million people can not leave a scar on the heart of humanity.

Almost 2.5 million Jews were killed on the territory of the Soviet Union, and in particular in Ukraine. After the occupation here appeared a network of ghettos, the largest of which was in Lvov. Ukraine Jews suffered systematic destruction, the example of which was the tragedy of Babin Yar.

Ukrainians understand well the pain that today sounds, like the echo in our hearts. I do not doubt this. For this is our common history, filled with strands terrible trouble, which managed to overcome.

Do you know why is day of remembrance celebrated on the 27th of January? On this day in 1945 the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front liberated prisoners from the largest concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau near Oswiecim in Poland.

Ukraine in 2005 was one of the initiators of the UN resolution on the commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Friends! We have to remember. This tragedy will never happen again, because now there is a mighty State of Israel, which gave a lot of energy to its people to feel secure. Unfortunately, in Europe, they were defenseless.

Only in those countries , that gave resistance to the Nazis, most Jews managed to survive. For example, the King of Denmark said to prime minister: "If the Germans would force Jews to wear yellow Danish star, I will be the first who would put it on myself." Instead, the Romanian prime minister Ion Antonescu scored particularly bloodthirsty. Even when the order of the "final solution of the Jewish question" was only on its way, he chose his tactics. He loadedfive thousand Jews into trains. Subsequently, they were poisoned with gas. Even Hitler complained that Antonescu was "more radical than they are."

Only good people helped Jews, even than they could pay for it on their own lives. These people are now called Righteous Among the Nations. In Ukraine officially there are more than 2.5 thousand of them. And how many people we don't know about, stories, only their families know..eternal gratitude and respect you!

The theme of this year's Day of Remembrance is education. All generations have to know how it was and why cannot repeat again. Go to the Holocaust Museum or watch the movie "The Pianist", or read the book on the topic. We remember together.