24-01-2005 -Commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps - Australian Permanent Mission to the United Nations

Australian Permanent Mission to the United Nations

New York

Permanent Mission address: 150 East 42 Street, Level 33, New York, New York 10017 - Telephone: 1 212 351 6600 - Fax: 1 212 351 6610

United Nations General Assembly
28th Special Session
24 January, 2005

Commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps

Statement by H.E. Mr John Dauth LVO
Ambassador and Permanent Representative
Australian Mission to the United Nations

(Check against delivery)

Mr President

Sixty years ago, nations across the world succeeded in defeating a barbaric and tyrannical Nazi regime - so graphically described this morning by Elie Wiesel - which had been bent on the systematic eradication of the Jewish people and the violent repression of many other races, nations and social groups.

The peoples of the Allied powers came together in common cause -- to defend the ideals of personal freedom and national independence - concepts upon which the community of nations was becoming increasingly based.

Young Australians in their tens of thousands joined the call to defend those principles, their country and Australia’s allies. Sadly, more than 39,000 of them would give their lives, just as so many had over twenty-five years earlier, when Europe had stood once more in flames. We are very proud to have played a significant role in the wider Allied war effort and we must never forget the sacrifices that Australians and our allies made in the cause of freedom.

We are also particularly proud, Mr President, to have provided a new and welcoming home after the war for so many of the survivors of the camps. We greatly value their substantial contribution in helping create an ethnically diverse, yet harmonious and tolerant, modern Australia.

Mr President, the Australian Government did not hesitate to join the call to convene this special session because, as Elie Wiesel so eloquently put it, this solemn gathering is an occasion to listen - and to remember - and, we hope, to learn.

We cannot - and we must not - ever forget the millions of innocents who perished because of hatred, irrationality and indifference. As we reflect upon the crimes of the past, let the testimony of those who lived, as well as the memory of those who perished, serve to guide and inspire us in pursuit of the goals enshrined in the United Nations Charter - to safeguard our peoples from the scourge of war; to preserve and advance fundamental human rights; and to provide justice, social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom for all.

Thank you, Mr President