US President Joe Biden referenced Colleyville and Charlottesville in his statement marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Thursday.
"Today, and every day, we have a moral obligation to honor the victims, learn from the survivors, pay tribute to the rescuers, and carry forth the lessons of last century’s most heinous crime," said Biden. "From the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia, to a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, we are continually and painfully reminded that hate doesn’t go away; it only hides."
The president stressed the need to teach accurately about the Holocaust and to push back against attempts to ignore, deny, distort, and revise history, making reference to a US co-sponsored United Nations resolution to combat Holocaust denial.
Last week, the UN General Assembly vowed to combat Holocaust denial and approved a resolution that defined the phenomenon as antisemitism and provided tools to preserve the memory of the Nazi’s six million Jewish victims.
There were 114 signatories to the text, which was passed on the 80th anniversary of the infamous Wannsee Conference, where the implementation of the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” was discussed and coordinated by officials of Nazi Germany.
"We cannot redeem the past. But, on this day, as we mourn humanity’s capacity to inflict inhuman cruelty, let us commit to making a better future and to always upholding the fundamental values of justice, equality, and diversity that strengthen free societies," added Biden on Thursday.