David SASSOLI, EP President, gives an statement (in Italian) for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp.

Message from David SASSOLI, EP President, for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp

SOUNDBITE (Original), David SASSOLI, EP President, Dear young Europeans, I would have been very pleased to meet you in Mauthausen on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of his release.

SOUNDBITE (Original), David SASSOLI, EP President, However, I would like to send you a thought, a particular greeting, because what happened in that place is the son of our history and cannot leave us indifferent.

SOUNDBITE (Original), David SASSOLI, EP President, In Mauthausen, one of the most terrible Nazi concentration camps, the very denial of our humanity was embodied. Between 1938 and 45, around 190 thousand people of different nationalities were deported to this concentration camp, political opponents, people persecuted for religious, homosexual, Jewish, Roma, Sinti, prisoners of war reasons.

SOUNDBITE (Original), David SASSOLI, EP President, In this field of horror, inhuman violence and punishment and arbitrary killings constituted daily life. What happened in Mauthausen, and in all the factories of death scattered throughout the European area, calls us to responsibility, not to forget. It imposes an obligation on us to keep our memory alive.

SOUNDBITE (Original), David SASSOLI, EP President, As Primo Levi wrote, "If understanding is impossible, knowing is necessary." Mauthausen reminds us and teaches us every day what horrors man can be capable of if he lets himself be captivated by fanaticism, hatred, and aberrant theories.

SOUNDBITE (Original), David SASSOLI, EP President, The same ones that still shed innocent blood today in many parts of the world, endangering peace, civilization and mutual coexistence. But the force of intolerance and the cult of power and the barbarism of totalitarianisms cannot prevail.

SOUNDBITE (Original), David SASSOLI, EP President, They will not prevail over civilization and law and will not have the upper hand over our humanity. Europe was born after the horrors of Nazism. Its construction represents not only the political response to all this but also one of the fundamental engines of the integration process between our democratic countries.

SOUNDBITE (Original), David SASSOLI, EP President, Europe facing us today, very demanding challenges. Our history teaches us that returning nationalism will not protect us. From new pitfalls because the sacredness of action of the borders as well as the search for a pure and univocal identity will only produce new enemies. On the contrary, Europe has been formed, and we want to continue to be formed, with our differences, with political, religious and cultural pluralism.

SOUNDBITE (Original), David SASSOLI, EP President, I turn to you dear young Europeans, to prevent denial and amnesia you must all feel the commitment to a lucid and alert historical conscience. Able not only to bear witness but also to understand and prevent and intervene whenever the seeds of absolute evil spread.

SOUNDBITE (Original), David SASSOLI, EP President, On May 16, 1945, on the occasion of the repatriation of the first contingent of deportees, a large anti-Nazi demonstration was held in the square of appeal in Mauthausen, at the end of which a text was approved which is known to all as the oath of Mauthausen. That appeal is a document of exceptional historical relevance, which we have a duty to re-read, enhance, disseminate.

SOUNDBITE (Original), David SASSOLI, EP President, Those words, those ideals of freedom friendship solidarity between peoples constitute our common values are the basis of our right. The idea of Europe, of a united Europe conceived by Altiero Spinelli was born in the concentration camps, in the Nazi, fascist annihilation camps and rests on a premise, no more wars, no more unbridled nationalism, no more racism, never more incitement to hatred and violence.

SOUNDBITE (Original), David SASSOLI, EP President, The words contained in the Mauthausen oath must be a warning, for all of us, but above all for you young Europeans.

SOUNDBITE (Original), David SASSOLI, EP President, A way to remember but also to honor the sacrifice of those who lost their lives in this field, fought for a better world, defended the values of freedom and justice. Good job.

Message from David SASSOLI, EP President, for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp

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