Polish Embassy in Mexico Joins the Project Traces to Remember
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
"Six million Jews lost their lives in an act of genocide that was planned and executed systematically by the Nazis. We commemorate this every year not only to remember and honor the victims, but also to condemn this and other acts of genocide that have occurred in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America."
Thus the Ambassador of Poland in the Aztec country received the Holocaust commemorative plaque last August 19 from Global Ambassador of Peace, Dr. William Soto Santiago.
The plaque, which was unveiled earlier at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico where it remained in exhibition for the student community, contains the hand prints of survivor, Mr. Bedrich Steiner, his daughter and his grandson, and will stay at this embassy for 30 days.
Beata Wojna, Representative of the Republic of Poland, also recalled the approaching 75th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, next September 1: "They were five years of war, five horrible and painful years, which claimed the lives of 6 million Poles, the equivalent of 20% of the Polish population at the time. Of those 6 million, half of them (i.e., 3 million) were Polish Jews who lived in a multiethnic and multinational Polish state, contributing to the economic and intellectual development of interwar Poland. Most of the Polish Jews were exterminated in the ghettos and concentration camps built by the Nazis on Polish territory invaded by the Germans in 1939.
For his part, Dr. Soto, the project creator, said that Traces to Remember has been presented at several embassies and public places around the world. Lastly, he urged people to not minimize the significance of the Holocaust, through dissemination, education and detection of similar patterns elsewhere in the world in order to prevent and avoid similar extermination events in the future.
Bedrich Steiner, a survivor of the genocide, stated that even though the plaque bears his name and hand prints, it is a tribute to all Holocaust survivors and their descendants. "It must preserve the memory of those who did not survive," he said.
The event was also attended by Holocaust survivor, Mr. Peter Katz, and more than fifteen members of the diplomatic body in Mexico, as well as media, political representatives and members of the Jewish community.
The Polish Embassy in Mexico, which is located in the Federal District, extends an invitation to all those interested in visiting its premises to see the plaque, by previous appointment at 5482-050 or email:
