Holocaust memorial ceremony in Romania
Holocaust memorial ceremony in RomaniaReuters

Addressing an event commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day in the European Parliament in Brussels, an Irish official denounced the "corrosive rise in racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric by a malign minority of politicians" in a number of EU member states.

"It is a moral imperative that we unequivocally repudiate the reprehensible rhetoric of those who seek to contaminate our political discourse and attempt to inflame dangerous prejudice," said Irish Justice Minister Alan Shatter, whose country currently chairs the rotating EU presidency.

According to The European Jewish Press (EJP), Shatter, whose responsibilities also cover defense and equality, said that it is no longer enough to merely remember the Holocaust, but stressed that "we must also remember to act. We must do more under the rule of law to end intolerance, racism and anti-Semitism."

"The Shoah did not begin in the death camps. It began with words of hate,” he added. “Those words of hate became weapons of mass murder because good people closed their doors and windows shutters and remained silent."

"Let us unite in our commitment to the victims of the Shoah and the lost generations to do all we can to ensure that the Holocaust of the 20th century will never again be repeated," concluded Shatter.