Remembrance and Learning from World War II

Dear participants,

Distinguished guests,

It gives me a great pleasure and honour to welcome you all here today on behalf of the Joint Council on Youth of the Council of Europe. It is the co-decision body which brings together governmental officials and youth organisations in the framework of the co-management system of the Council of Europe and that establishes the youth sector’s priorities, objectives and budgets. One of the activities of the Joint Council on Youth that is of significant importance is the bilateral cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Russian Federation in the field of youth policy, in the framework of which this seminar is organised.

This year we commemorate the seventieth Anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the most destructive and widespread war of all times; the greatest disaster in the history of the humanity! Over 60 million people were killed, which was over 3% of the 1939 world population. Millions of people faced political, racial and religious persecution, including Jews, Roma, homosexuals and disabled people. In 1945, Europe has been looted and nearly ruined by this bloody war.

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching a very interesting interview with a war witness telling his story. Stepan Karnaukhov, aged 90 nowadays, is among the surviving veterans of the Great Patriotic War. His narrative was shocking and touching... “We didn’t know the sweet excitement or a tenderness of the first love. Instead we had wounds and bandages soaked in blood”, he said. And concluded crying “The war stole our youth. That’s not listed among the losses of war”. This is only one of the million witnesses of how deeply the war affected people back then. People like him survived the war carrying its horrors and nightmares through their whole lives. They have to live with it for more than 70 years...

In this point, please let me put an emphasis on the role of youth during the Second World War. The Second World War had a major and determinant impact on the lives of young people. Many youth left school to join the labour force or the military. Young people -regardless their age or gender- were fighting in the trenches to defend their homeland and to oust fascism. They kept their morale high and showed their bravery and patriotism in the battlefield.

But also when their countries were occupied, they kept on fighting for their liberation! In every country there were recruits by many young people eager for freedom. They were recruited voluntarily and formed illegal resistance groups, creating a strong youth movement with enormous potential! They were the catalysts of freedom and encouraged the whole population and nation with their strong commitment.

The remembrance of the Second World War is vital to keep our collective memory alive; to remember the victims and survivors; to honour the heroes; to raise awareness on the consequences of this tragedy. A famous philosopher, George Santayana, wrote that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. We should always remember our past, but not be dependent from it totally!

The occasion of this Anniversary should be used not only as a remembrance, but also as a learning; learning of our mistakes, our differences, our similarities, our common grounds, ourselves. The Second World War was a great lesson to all of us! It taught us what humans are really able to do to destroy each other; how much pain can a man stand; how a real catastrophe looks like. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Holocaust and the Distomo massacre are only a few of the many fatal incidents during the war. The numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity commited -including genocides, massacres, persecutions, slave labour, and pogroms- can be called as a “black page” in our history.

But despite this disaster, this was not the end of Europe. The joint actions and efforts of the Allied Forces who fought united against fascism and Nazism inspired the European nations and founded the Council of Europe in order to achieve a greater unity between countries. Today, we are here meeting in the Palais de l' Europe, a building that symbolises the unity of Europe; a building that houses all the European nations. One should highlight that Europe wasn’t dead after the war; it was just heavily wounded. Europe achieved to regenerate through the ashes! But we are not there yet. There are many more things to be done in order to unite the whole Europe with respect to democracy and human rights.

We have many more challenges to overcome. The extremism and racism are in a rise; xenophobia still haunts many of our cities; military conflicts are on-going on our ground; unemployment, financial crisis, political instability and institutional distrust trigger more tensions; violence, terrorism and hate speech are not eliminated yet!

Dear participants,

Use these few days of the seminar to work on your thoughts, dreams and hopes about our common future. Look back in the past and plan the future wisely. It is in our hands never to live such a disaster again; we don’t deserve these tragedies. Take advantage of your youth and challenge the current stability or regression wherever you face it. Take initiatives and change your communities in local and national level. We should strive and fight all together for a more united Europe; a more fair Europe with respect to democracy, human rights and minorities; a Europe that is based on common understanding and tolerance; a Europe for all the Europeans! Probably the way is long but we already started it. Please don’t forget only one thing; you are not only the future of Europe; you are the present too!

My speech during the official opening of the seminar "Remembrance and learning from the Second World War" organised by the Council of Europe at the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War!

Watch the speech: