Anti-Semitism must be combated with all our might, Viola Amherd said ahead of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Remembering this and the victims of National Socialism is a historical responsibility, said the Swiss Defence Minister, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year.
“The rise in anti-Semitism in light of the terrorist attacks by Hamas against the Israeli civilian population on October 7, 2023, must therefore be combated resolutely and with all our strength,” said Amherd ahead of the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on Saturday.
Regardless of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the military operations in Gaza and other occupied territories, it is unacceptable for Jewish citizens in Switzerland to be attacked or to feel threatened, Amherd said in a statement from the defence ministry. Anti-Semitism, like other forms of hatred against people because of their race, ethnicity or religion, has no place in a democratic society, she said.
On January 27, 1945, the Soviet Red Army liberated the Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. The extermination camp west of Krakow in Poland was one of several extermination and concentration camps in Nazi Germany’s sphere of influence, where at least six million Jews from all over Europe were murdered on German orders, alongside Sinti and Roma, homosexuals, political prisoners and other victims of persecution.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Macron will attend Swiss summit on Ukraine, says Zelensky
This content was published on
French President Emmanuel Macron will attend the peace conference on Ukraine at the Swiss Bürgenstock resort next month, according to Volodymyr Zelensky.
Top politician tells ‘corrupt’ Eurovision to stay away from Bern
This content was published on
A social media post by the president of Bern’s cantonal government critical of the Eurovision Song Contest has created waves and will be discussed in the cantonal parliament.
Swiss centre records over 200 victims of human trafficking
This content was published on
Last year 317 people took part in a protection programme run by the Specialist Unit for Trafficking in Women and Women’s Migration (FIZ) in German-speaking Switzerland.
This content was published on
The Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and partners are opening a field hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday.
Lack of smartphone sustainability in Switzerland hits environment
This content was published on
Almost half of all Swiss citizens hang on to their old smartphones, tablets and laptops, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
Police clear out pro-Palestinian students protesting in Geneva
This content was published on
The police intervened early on Tuesday to dislodge pro-Palestinian students who had been occupying the University of Geneva for almost a week.
New gel developed in Zurich renders alcohol harmless
This content was published on
A newly developed gel composed of whey proteins breaks down alcohol in the body and could reduce its harmful and intoxicating effects in humans.
Pro-Palestine protests extend to Basel and Fribourg universities
This content was published on
Demonstrators called for an academic boycott of all Israeli institutions and disassociation with Chaim Weizmann, the first Israeli president.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.