UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said the year 2021 must be a year of healing and healing from the pandemic and broken societies in which hatred has all too easily taken the root.

“As we remember those who died in the Holocaust and honour the survivors, our best tribute is the creation of a world of equality, justice and dignity for all,” he said in a message marking the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of Holocaust.

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He said they honour the memory of the six million Jews and millions of others who were systematically murdered in the Holocaust by the Nazis and their collaborators.

“This year’s anniversary takes place under the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has revealed longstanding fractures and injustices in our societies and contributed to resurgence in antisemitism and xenophobia,” said the UN chief.

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He said the Holocaust was the culmination of two millennia of discrimination, attacks, expulsions and periodic mass killings of Jews. “It should have ended antisemitism for good. But it didn’t.”

The UN chief said antisemitism unfortunately remains alive and well.

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“Today, white supremacists and neo-Nazis are resurgent, organising and recruiting across borders, intensifying their efforts to deny, distort and rewrite history including the Holocaust,” Guterres said.

He said the Covid-19 pandemic has given them new opportunities to target minorities, based on religion, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, disability and immigration status. “We must make urgent joint efforts to stop them.”

The UN chief said as they consider the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, they must address the fragilities and gaps exposed by the pandemic and strengthen our mutual bonds, based on our common humanity.