Dear Mr.Levy, Representative of the Jewish Community,
Dear present quests,

It is my duty to be the host of today’s commemoration here at the Municipality of Shtip held for the memory of the Jews from Shtip. Today we are uniting to pay tribute to our deported fellow citizens who were intercepted by the worst evil in the human history. 131 families from Shtip were forcibly taken in the morning on the 11^th of March from the former company for tobacco in Skopje, where on the 25^th of April 1943 were deported in Treblinka with a transport train.

The Holocaust is not only an unsurpassed human tragedy, but an incomparable act of total evil. We remember and pay tribute to the victims of Nazism.

It is important for us to remember the Holocaust every year, because we are also sending a message that hate and anti-Semitism can create the most terrible tragedies.

Nationalists, populists and extremist options make some progress. But we and our institutions, which we aim to make European, have the responsibility to raise awareness of the dangers that are lurking and fight against these deviations. We have the answer against these fearful experiences, against the absence of respect for basic human rights and fundamental democratic standards.

We are faced with the danger of spreading false propaganda for some time now. The attempts to hide evil worsen the situation. Therefore we need decisive and powerful actions to fight against anti-Semitism in all its disguises.

That is why we say decisive and clearly: anti-Semitism, racism and every form of discrimination are being condemned for our basic democratic values, whose kernel is committed to the diversity and human rights of every individual.

The commemoration of our Jewish citizens is not only a memory for them, but a universal lesson for the whole mankind. The Holocaust is a dark page of the human history as well as a precaution and lesson for all of us. The suffering and misfortunes of the deported people are indescribable, but should help us learn from the mistakes of the past and think about how to react when other intimidating events occur.

The surroundings are different, but the marking of such events is important and relevant today, because it enables us to unite, recognize the forces of evil, be cautious and in a way to prevent cruelty and such verdicts from occurring in future.

Therefore, we have no choice, we must move forward regardless of our ethnic, religious, national or any other affiliation.

We remember the victims on today’s commemoration, pay them respect and say: Never more!