by the EESC's Employers' Group
With a minute of silence, the plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising – the largest Jewish armed revolt of World War II.
To mark the occasion, members of the EESC pinned on the yellow paper daffodils that symbolise remembrance of the uprising. On the same day, similar paper symbols were distributed on the streets of Warsaw, Poland.
"It is a paradox: the longer Europeans live in peace and prosperity, the less they remember what the overall goal behind the creation of the EU was. For the EU founding fathers, it was 'never again war'," underlined Jacek P. Krawczyk, President of the Employers' Group, who initiated the commemoration. "This yellow daffodil not only symbolises the victims of the war. It should also be a symbol of resistance against any attempts to divide the community, to divide people with walls, to divide them because of their origin," he added.
In his speech, Jean-Pierre Haber, founding member of CEJI (Centre européen juif d'information) called for action to be taken by all representatives of European civil society to ensure that all Europeans can live in a free and peaceful Europe.
Historians estimate that during the uprising and brutal liquidation of the Ghetto, which lasted over 20 days, 7 000 Jews were shot on the spot, 7 000 were sent to the Treblinka death camp and 36 000 were deported to labour camps. (lj)