![U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry lays a wreath at Yad Vashem during a ceremony in Jerusalem for Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 8, 2013. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/68035f21ccb78d4e64b8bd53d32e89ba/tumblr_mkxf1pou791qcug8io1_500.jpg)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry lays a wreath at Yad Vashem during a ceremony in Jerusalem for Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 8, 2013. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]
Remembering and Honoring Courage
About the Author: Mark F. Brzezinski serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden.
In his video message, President Obama speaks for all Americans who remember the courageous and selfless acts of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. In 2012, Sweden is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Raoul Wallenberg, a diplomat who chose not to be indifferent and to rise to a higher moral calling. We remember and revere this courageous man whose efforts saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Holocaust. Wallenberg paid with his life for his commitment to basic values. And we all have the obligation to ponder the full measure of Wallenberg’s personal sacrifice and tragedy.
Born into wealth, for Wallenberg turning a blind eye to the hardship and suffering of others would have been easy. Instead, as First Secretary at the Swedish Legation in Budapest, Hungary during the darkest days of World War II, Wallenberg demonstrated a sense of self-sacrifice… more »
‘May Their Memory Be for a Blessing’
![A candle is lit in front of a memorial wall holding the engraved names of tens of thousands of Holocaust victims in the Holocaust Memorial Center at the United Nations Holocaust remembrance day in Budapest, Hungary, Jan. 27, 2012. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0418_holocaust_remembrance_day_m.jpg)
About the Author: Hannah Rosenthal serves as Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism.
On April 19, people all over the world will commemorate Yom Ha’Shoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. In Judaism, when we remember the dead we say “zikron l’vrach“— may their memory be for a blessing. On this day, we stand united against one of the most sinister and evil chapters of history, scarred by the unthinkable deeds of governments and collaborators and the silence of so many.
In my job as Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, two of the tools I use in my outreach to governments and civil society are education and dialogue. They are mandatory first steps to prevent and overcome ignorance and hate. We must advance the universal message that such evil must be confronted rather than ignored. We must forge connections between students, between communities, and between faiths.
In January, I was honored to attend a United Nations… more »
