Hundreds of people attend Holocaust commemoration; Rutte "we cannot ignore October 7"

Hundreds of people gathered on Sunday in Amsterdam for the National Holocaust Remembrance Day. At the Mirror Monument in Wertheim Park, people remembered how the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated 79 years ago.

At 11 a.m., the participants in a silent march reached the park from Amsterdam City Hall. Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, and South African Ambassador to the Netherlands Vusi Madonsela were at the forefront.

The commemoration began with a speech by Jacques Grishaver, the chairman of the Dutch Auschwitz Committee. He explained how "extreme ideas" find their way into political discourse. As an example, Grishaver cited conversations that the radical right-wing German party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) had with right-wing extremists about the mass deportation of asylum seekers, illegal migrants and "unassimilated" Germans. Grishaver also said the war in Gaza is causing polarization in the world.

Grishaver also mentioned the news reports about the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences canceling a lecture series on the Holocaust for the time being. He then wondered: "Is this the beginning again that we fear so much?" Outgoing Prime Minister Rutte said in his speech at the commemoration that it is important “to pass on knowledge about the Holocaust to young people in education, from generation to generation."

Holocaust survivor Max Arpels Lezer said in his speech that he was shocked by the rise in anti-Semitism, partly as a result of the war in Gaza. "Although we have no influence on Israel, we are being held accountable for this," he said.

The commemoration ended with the laying of floral wreaths at the memorial, including by students from the Rosj Pina elementary school and by Rutte and Halsema.

Rutte: "Never Again Auschwitz" has become an empty phrase

Rutte also criticized the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 in his speech. "At this Holocaust commemoration, 79 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, we cannot ignore October 7. The day on which the world Jewish community was confronted for the umpteenth time in history with a deliberate and orchestrated massacre. With hostage-taking, rape, and mutilation as the filthiest weapons to sow fear and terror. And shortly afterwards a wave of anti-Semitic reactions that led, also in our country, to the need to protect schools and synagogues."

The outgoing Prime Minister also regrets the fact that people feel unsafe again, that there is that threat again. "Open anti-Semitism again. As if 'Never Again Auschwitz' has become an empty phrase."

In her speech, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema also addressed how painful it must be for Holocaust survivors to witness the horrors of October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel, and the renewed rise of anti-Semitism in the Netherlands.

She also said that anyone who downplays the Holocaust cannot be anti-racist. “Anyone who humiliates and excludes another human being because of his or her faith, color or background cannot be a friend of the Jewish people,” she further said. “Wherever we come from, whatever color our skin is, whatever dreams and beliefs we cherish, whatever worries keep us awake at night, whatever cause we take to the streets for, in the end, there is only one moral compass. That compass is that in our relationship with others, we must always keep asking ourselves that one question: Is this a human being?"