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Auschwitz stands as a tragic reminder of the terrible potential man has for violence and inhumanity.

The Holocaust, taken by itself, is a black hole. To look at it directly is to be swallowed up by it.

The risk of the Holocaust is not that it will be forgotten, but that it will be embalmed and surrounded by monuments and used to absolve all future sins.

When we write about Auschwitz, we must know that Auschwitz, in a certain sense at least, suspended literature. One can only write a black novel about Auschwitz or - you should excuse the expression - a cheap serial, which begins in Auschwitz and is still not over.

We cannot get by Auschwitz. We should not even try, as great as the temptation is, because Auschwitz belongs to us, is branded into our history, and - to our benefit! - has made possible an insight that could be summarized as, 'Now we finally know ourselves.'

Since Auschwitz, we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima, we know what is at stake.

Only through acknowledgment of the erasure and void of Jewish life can the history of Berlin and Europe have a human future.

So many times I wanted to go to Auschwitz, but I couldn't take up the courage to go there.

As freedom-loving people across the globe hope for an end to tyranny, we will never forget the enormous suffering of the Holocaust.