Swiss president decries anti-Semitism during Auschwitz liberation ceremony

Karin Keller-Sutter commemorates the liberation of Auschwitz Keystone-SDA

On the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter expressed her concern at the resurgence of anti-Semitism, including in Switzerland.

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In a speech, Keller-Sutter stressed the importance of preserving the testimony of Holocaust survivors.

+ Focus: the history of anti-Semitism in Switzerland

Keller-Sutter was accompanied by two Swiss survivors at the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. This was the first time that brothers Alfred and Rudolf Popper, who survived the camp as children, had taken part in the ceremony.

“It is intolerable that our fellow citizens of the Jewish faith should be subjected to discrimination, intimidation and violence,” said Keller-Sutter on Monday.

Knowing how anti-Semitism has been exploited in the past to justify “the worst crimes”, the rise of political currents advocating exclusion in the name of a concept of superiority in several countries is worrying, she added.

Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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