Ronald Reagan

“ In our own time this plan was conceived and, before we could stop it, it had taken the lives of six million Jewish men, women, and children.
Even as we herald the glory of the Jewish heritage, we commemorate as well Jewish suffering in this era. It is up to us to show the way out of this shameful cycle. We must remember the sins of the past and rededicate ourselves to shaping a future marked by tolerance, respect, and compassion. We must rededicate ourselves to the proposition that the Holocaust will remain a solitary horror and that its like will never be repeated. ”

“ Jews throughout the world have just celebrated Passover, the holiday that marks the Exodus from Egpyt and the deliverance from slavery. The Jewish people came forth from the house of bondage and flowered with an abundance of creativity which has maintained itself until the present day. We learn from this that the emergence from slavery to freedom can release powers hidden within the human spirit, as the Jewish people have once again shown since the end of the Nazi terror. ”

“ The other great religions of the West-Christianity and Islam-can recognize their roots in Judaism. Western literature owes many of its most inspiring themes and allusions to the Hebrew Bible. Great Jewish thinkers-from Philo of Alexandria, to Maimonides and Saadya Gaon, to Spinoza and Martin Buber-have engaged in powerful symbiotic dialogue with Christian and Muslim writers to add vital insights to the Western philosophical tradition. In addition, individual Jews have made extraordinary contributions to the arts, literature, sciences, and humanities. ”