Estonian minister: Holocaust is not just part of Jewish history

TALLINN - Holocaust is not just a part of Jewish history, Estonian Minister of Education and Research Mailis Reps said on Friday at a Holocaust remembrance event in Tallinn's Jewish cemetery and called on avoiding such tragedies in the future.

"It concerns the history of the whole mankind and is actual also today. We must not go along with the same exclusion processes that took place during the Holocaust," Reps said during the ceremony.

"The Holocaust Remembrance Day reminds us of the core values of being a human being, which is especially important at times when alarming foreign political news reach us each day. Therefore we must possess wisdom for keeping the history from repeating and thousands of innocent people dying," Reps said.

"No matter what crises or hardships Europe and the rest of the world are facing, we cannot justify xenophobia. Estonia has on several occasions condemned the crimes that were committed on the occupied Estonian territory against the Jewish people, but to preserve the historic memory it is important to talk about Holocaust in schools as well as the society as a whole," the minister said.

Reps also recalled that the Republic of Estonia was the first country in the world to grant Jews cultural autonomy in 1926.