DurDe says “Never Again” to the Holocaust

Under the slogan “Never Again!” the supporters of the DurDe Platform gathered in Galatasaray Square in Istanbul to condemn the fascist Nazis who slaughtered 6 million Jews in gas chambers in the 2^nd World War, with the slogan “Never Again!”  Speaking on behalf of the platform, Gonca Şahin called public officials to task over the racist attacks that have recently been directed towards Jewish Turkish citizens. 

Şahin, who emphasized the importance of the official commemoration ceremony held in Ankara, read out the DurDe Platform press release.

In their release, DurDe stated:

“Today we have gathered here on the 70^th anniversary of the Holocaust, to once again remember the crimes perpetuated against humanity by the Nazis, to commemorate the millions of people who lost their lives and to say “Never Again!”. During the brutal Nazi regime two thirds of European Jews were murdered. Over one million Jewish children, two million Jewish women and three million Jewish men lost their lives. More than 40 thousand death camps within Germany and the territory occupied by the Germans were used to gather, imprison and murder the Jews and the other victims. After coming to power in Germany the Nazis implemented one of the biggest crimes in the history of humanity – the Holocaust – in stages: Implementing systematic state sanctioned terror against the Jews, the Nazis blamed the Jews as the cause of everything going wrong – particularly the economy - and the root of every ideology that they believed to be harmful. They engaged in systematic verbal and written attacks. They boycotted their stores. They seized their property and land. They segregated them through judicial and administrative means, and enacted racist laws in order to cause them financial loss. They seized their homes, drove them away and ghettoized them. They murdered millions of Jews in death camps that they built using all of the opportunities provided by industrialization.         

(…)

The racist and nationalistic ideologies that have led to genocide and massacre throughout the past century are still prevalent today. In the USA, African Americans are subjected to police violence. Racist parties and neo-Nazis in Europe are trying to increase their influence by exploiting xenophobia, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. On the other hand, across the Middle East people are being murdered in mass or being forced to leave their homes due to their beliefs and thoughts. Even though it has lead to the deaths of millions, anti-Semitic views are still widespread. Particularly during this past year after every attack on Gaza by the Israeli State, threats and insults were frequently directed towards Jews. Public officials watch and stand by without taking action while attacks are carried out by academics making references to the Treblinka concentration camp, politicians making statements such as “May you have many Hitlers”, bureaucrats such as the Governor of Edirne arbitrarily shutting down synagogues, non-governmental organizations designating the Jewish community as a target and fascist gangs storming synagogues. For this reason, rather than the “official” Holocaust commemoration being held in Ankara, this commemoration ceremony being held by the activists gathered here is especially important. Today, while we respectfully remember all of the victims of the Nazi regime’s crimes against humanity, we condemn the racist hate propaganda targeting our Jewish compatriots, the anti-Semitic attacks, nationalism and fascism. As the DurDe Platform we will continue our solidarity and struggle alongside our Jewish citizens in order to ensure that such pain is never repeated.

Never again!”     

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