Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen took part in the opening of the new Holocaust Museum in the Netherlands. Austria supported the project financially. In his speech, Van der Bellen recalled Austria’s “special responsibility” in connection with Nazi atrocities in the Netherlands.
“There is a very specific reason why I am standing here today,” said Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen during the opening of his speech on the occasion of the opening of the new Holocaust Museum in the Dutch capital Amsterdam. “It was an Austrian,” said Van der Bellen during the festivities in the Portuguese Synagogue.
“Arthur Seyß-Inquart, the Nazi Reich Commissioner in the Netherlands, was an Austrian. It was an Austrian who arranged the deportation of more than 100,000 Jews from the Netherlands to the Nazi death camps. It was an Austrian who enslaved half a million people from the Netherlands for forced labor. An Austrian who had people persecuted, tortured and murdered here in the Netherlands. It was someone from our Austrian society. Austria therefore has a special responsibility. I have a special responsibility here.”
According to Van der Bellen, it is not enough to just say: “Never again!” You must live up to these words by taking a decisive stand against all forms of anti-Semitism and hatred. “The National Holocaust Museum was founded to keep alive the memory of the horrors of Nazi terror. Because we far too often underestimate how inhumane people can be. This place reminds us of that. Far too often we forget to take a stand when someone’s dignity is violated. This place reminds us of that. This place wakes us up,” says Van der Bellen.
Austria supported the construction of the museum with 400,000 euros. “We need it!” concluded Van der Bellen, who then met with Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
