PRESIDENT CHIRAC INAUGURATES PARIS MEMORIAL OF THE HOLOCAUST

In his inaugural address, President Chirac said in Hebrew "Zakhor, Al tishkakh", "Remember, Do Not Forget! I came here today to recall the commitment of France to always remember the Jewish martyrdom. I bow in respect in front of the victims of the Holocaust, I came to reaffirm the promise of our country to never forget what it was unable to prevent. (…)"

"By creating in Grenoble (South East of France) in 1943 the Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation, Isaac Schneersohn accomplished an action of authentic resistance. The resistance of memory. Weakness was already mightier than might. Honor was greater than shame. Hope was greater than fear. Man's dignity was expressed in its full fledge when he stands up, in the midst of darkness. Isaac Schneersohn, or the archivist of the spirit against the bureaucracy of barbarity."

"I wish to express, solemnly and fraternally, my gratitude to all those who pursued his work until it was engraved in the immutable reality of stone. On this wall, 76,000 names return a posthumous dignity to broken lives. An unutterable memory to a tortured people.

"(…) Thank you, Serge Klarsfeld, and you, Richard Prasquier (President of the French Committee for Yad VaShem and of the Foreign Commission of CRIF). I understand all our country owes to the generous abnegation of people like you and to the patient action of the two institutions you are leading, "The Sons and Daughters of the Jews Deported from France" and "The French Committee for Yad VaShem".

"(…) In this minute, history is haunting our conscience. It prompts us to an everlasting duty. First and foremost, a duty of truth. By visiting this memorial, like we just did, I was struck by the strength of its restraint. Names, dates, figures, maps. Some photos. Facts. Nothing else. But names who look at us and watch us. Facts that talk and shout at us."

"To those who would want to deny this reality, deny these facts, deny this history, I solemnly say that they will be sued and condemned with all the law's force. Science was distorted to legitimate racism. We shall not accept that it is distorted to justify the denial of the Holocaust, this crime against truth."

"(…) At this special moment, I want to say again, with gravity, that there is no room for anti-Semitism in France. Anti-Semitism is not an opinion, it is a perversion. A perversion that kills. It is a hatred thrusting its roots in the depth of evil and none of its reappearances can be tolerated. There is no tolerable action or speech in this matter. Nothing is irrelevant. Oozing in written form, in words, through television, computer or satellite, this hatred is intolerable. The Government is and will do its utmost to stop anti-Semitism.

"(…) France ignores nothing of its history or of its past responsibilities. When I turn to this wall, I think of the Righteous, honor and conscience of our country, thanks to whom three-quarter of the Jews of France were saved. Their light, the light of all those who then said 'No', is still illuminating our country."

"However, I do not forget the darkest hours of our history. On 16 July 1995, I recalled in the name of France, during the commemoration of the big round ups of 16 and 17 July 1942, that the criminal madness of the occupier had indeed been well backed up by Frenchmen and by the French State. France had to recognize its responsibility. It must do everything to remain true to its humanistic heritage that it betrayed then. France must do everything to ensure everyone present on our soil, a free, safe and decent existence whatever his or her beliefs."

"I do not ignore the anxieties, sometimes the anguishes gripping the hearts of our Jewish fellow citizens. The Jewish memory is a hurt memory of a people who all along his history was dispersed, persecuted, before experiencing the horror of extermination. This wound would suffice, if needed, the necessity of a state whose existence would guarantee the "Never Again". This is what Elie Wiesel, witness of the horror turned militant of peace, meant when he rightly wrote, 'Jews can live outside Israel but not without Israel". Israel, France's friend, who rightfully aspires to live in peace and in security in secured accepted and recognized borders, like the Palestinians and all the peoples of the region."

The speech of Jacques Chirac was deeply moving and important, said CRIF's President Roger Cukierman. "His words really address the concerns of the Jews."