Looking back. Looking ahead. 2020-2025

INSTITUTIONS | SPEECHES   193 Just as General André Delpech did at the 50th anniversary, the CID once again offers its deep appreciation to the Foun- dation, the memorial site and all their staff – for all they have done and all they continue to do in the name of freedom and human dignity. We have great ambitions: In the coming years, the memorial is to undergo an extensive and necessary redesign – a significant, forward-looking project in which we place great hopes. This initiative stands as a symbol of our steadfast commitment in the service of remembrance and will become an exceptional educational resource for generations to come. It also provides a vital response to the rising currents of historical revisionism, to tendencies that seek to relativise or suppress the past or encourage us to focus solely on the future – whose trajectory gives us cause for concern. Yet preparing for the future is precisely what we are doing here today – public institutions, memorial staff and remembrance communities from around the world – united in the spirit of the values entrusted to us by the survivors. We confront the past with sobriety – but with unwavering clarity – as a realm of experience from which we must learn in order to find the right path towards the future. And we pass on this knowledge to young people with the greatest care, guided by the conviction:“Never again”. According to the surviving prisoners – and they will express this shortly far better than I ever could – “Never again” reaches far beyond “Never again concentration camps”, “Never again death camps” or “Never again genocide”. As unequivocally declared by the former prisoners in the oath sworn on 29 April 1955 on the Leitenberg near Dachau.   “Never again shall any people be oppressed or attacked”. Their declaration also called for the “rapprochement of peoples in peace to ensure security, independence and freedom”. Thus, the oath was a powerful appeal for a united Europe and a free world. And yet the world has not been free from war since 1945 –   with minor operations giving way to major conflicts and   periods of peace giving way to moments of grave tension. It almost seems as if the oath set the bar so high that any- thing falling short of it is deemed “acceptable” – and that is precisely the situation we face today, with the re-emergence of geopolitical power blocs with territorial and economic ambitions, border violations, propaganda and disinformation, xenophobia, antisemitism, fanaticism, social violence and mounting pressures on our democracies. It feels as if all these threats and evils are returning, and   yet there is also a growing resistance – one that gives us a renewed sense of unity and commitment. Our gathering today reminds us of the true red line drawn by the survivors: It lies in our daily actions, in our respect for   fundamental rights and in the genuine fulfilment of our   individual responsibilities – guided by a spirit of humanity, solidarity and moral integrity. To cross this red line – even in the smallest of ways – would be to dishonour the memory of the victims of this camp and its subcamps, as well as the memory of all those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. The wreath-laying ceremony that we will share in a few   minutes invites you – in a new and symbolic way – to pause with a shared sense of purpose and to take to heart the true meaning of the words “Never again”, which are inscribed in stone before us. Thank you for listening.