Israeli Holocaust Museum director condemns equaling of Stalinism, Nazism
Israeli Holocaust Museum director condemns equaling of Stalinism, Nazism
Claims by certain European countries that Hitler and Stalin committed similar crimes have been opposed at a meeting of the Israeli government."Stalin and Hitler are given similar characteristics, and crimes of totalitarian regimes are discussed. Such discussions bring to naught the significance of Holocaust," Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum Director General Avner Shalev said in a speech which was obtained by the World Congress of Russian Jewry.
"Europe is trying to give a different interpretation to the Holocaust," he said.
"The most illustrative example is the European Parliament's declaration of August 23 [the day the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed] as the day of remembrance of totalitarian regime victims."
"Mostly, this idea is promoted by the Baltic republics. There are other states forming their national agenda on the distortion of history," Shalev said.
"The fact that the Israeli government has put the item on its agenda is important, as it mirrors the unwavering attitude of the Benjamin Netanyahu government to the distortion of history in relation to anti-Semitism," the World Congress said.
Last December the Congress organized an international conference on WW2 and Holocaust in Berlin. The conference delegates discussed attempts to distort history and to glorify the Nazi.
