Jair Bolsonaro
Jair BolsonaroReuters

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday asserted that while the crimes of the Holocaust can be forgiven, they shouldn’t be forgotten.

His comments were made at a meeting with evangelical pastors in Rio de Janeiro. He was applauded by those who attended, according to The Associated Press.

“We can forgive, but we cannot forget. That quote is mine. Those that forget their past are sentenced not to have a future,” Bolsonaro was quoted by AP as having said.

He added that actions are needed for the Holocaust not to be repeated.

During his recent visit to Israel, the Brazilian President toured the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, following which he said that Nazism was a leftist movement.

The far-right leader was asked during his visit to Israel if he agreed with a recent claim by his foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo, that Nazis were leftists.

“There is no doubt, right?” Bolsonaro replied, according to Reuters. He went on to say that the Nazi party’s official name, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, contains the word “socialist.”

Yad Vashem’s website follows the wide historical consensus that Nazism was the product of “the growth of radical right-wing groups in Germany.”

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)