Minoo

Visiting Auschwitz and Birkenau was a harrowing experience. My wife Yasmine and I viewed the possessions left behind by the victims and visited the barracks, gas chambers, and crematoria. Every shoe and suitcase was a reminder of a human being who had a name, a family and a life. The crimes of the Holocaust against the Jewish people are incomparable in the combination of its industrial scale of slaughter and the bureaucratic efficiency with which it was planned and organized. Auschwitz and Birkenau lay that plain. My thoughts turned to the people of Iran, and to a regime that denies the Holocaust while attempting to erase the massacre of our compatriots from the world’s memory through internet blackouts, censorship and hidden executions. But the Islamic Republic does not represent Iran. The heirs of Cyrus stand with the Jewish people. And while the regime seeks death and destruction, the Iranian nation is fighting for life and liberty. We placed a wreath bearing the Lion and Sun on behalf of the Iranian people at the memorial to the victims. We will never forget and we will not allow the regime occupying Iran to turn our nation’s name and history into instruments of hatred. A free Iran will once again stand for peace, life and human dignity. Light will prevail over darkness. @AuschwitzMuseum @EJAssociation