As delivered by Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Dear friends,

We human beings are extraordinary in many ways.

In our creativity, in our love, kindness and willingness to help others and to do good.

But also, most regrettably, and sometimes rather completely incomprehensively – in our ability to do harm and hurt other human beings, in the worst possible ways imaginable.

And in Europe itself, we have one of the worst examples of the latter in human history.

The systematic abuse and killing of millions of people in a network of concentration camps – death-camps – during the Second World War.

Targeting above all, Jewish people – but also Roma and Sinti, LGBTI-people and other minorities, and political opponents.

Today, we are here at one of these death-camps.

And we are here to offer our respect to the victims – and to help ensure that the atrocities that were committed here and across Europe will never happen again.

And we are here today to commemorate that 80 years ago the evacuation of the Natzweiler-Struthof camp took place.

While recognising that in just over four years 52,000 human beings were imprisoned here – and 22,000 lost their lives here.

This is hard for us to contemplate, and I know it must be particularly difficult for some of you here today – those of you who lost family members at this site.

Many of you are from Norway and the Netherlands, but also from France, Germany, Italy and Luxembourg.

I know that the first group of Norwegian prisoners arrived here at Natzweiler-Struthof on 15 June 1943. They were 71 individuals that had no idea of what was awaiting them.

The Kommandant – the leader of this deathcamp – greeted the Norwegians with these words - that none of them ever forgot:

“Let me repeat to you – my camp is not a sanatorium. You are here to work. And here it is only one exit” – and he turned around and pointed with his whip at the brick-building furthest down, with a big pipe – and said:

“There, down there.” It was the camp’s crematory he pointed at.

Back stood a group of 71 Norwegian inmates
shell-shocked and without words. Their only crimes had been to fight for the liberty and independence of their country. That their children can grow up in peace and freedom.

The cruelty – the plain evilness – was hard for them to comprehend.

“I had no idea about this, the Norwegian, Mr Hans Christian Qvist, told his fellow prisoners, later on, and he added, “I didn’t realise that human brutality could have such expressions.”

I believe that Hans Christian Qvist put into words what indeed many were thinking when being exposed to such a brutal and unimaginable situation.

Today, it is important to remember those who were killed and imprisoned here.

Memory is our way of paying respect and honouring the victims of these crimes.

But I believe that it also underlines the importance of learning and re-learning, and re-learning yet again, the terrible lessons of the Second World War, and the holocaust in particular.

And as much as we all hope that terrors of this kind are in Europe’s past, we see today how new tides of hatred, racism and discrimination hit us. Be it antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred or other forms of hate.

Our politics has also become rougher, more divided, more polarised, with new restrictions on freedom of expression, the free media and civil society in some European countries.

A brutal war has also returned to our continent.

And an old ghost is revisiting Europe – aggressive nationalism.

All of us have a responsibility to act. Be it as international organisations – like the Council of Europe, which I represent, as countries and governments, and as individuals.

We must never forget the lessons that Natzweiler-Struthof teaches us.

Thousands of good, brave and innocent people were murdered here.

And we must try to listen to the silent whispers of those whose lives were taken here.

And let us never forget the words of Hans Christian Qvist:

“I had no idea about this. I didn’t realise that human brutality could have such expressions.”

Thank you.