DR. MUSTAFA CERIC VISITS AUSCHWITZ CONCENTRATION CAMP

Updated: 13:05 p.m., 03 February 2011.

"I wanted to see it with my own eyes. What you hear and what you see are not the same thing. I never cared about Auschwitz and never knew about it until it happened to my people, and I am here to tell you and the whole world not to wait for the next genocide. You have the ability to prevent it. If we had prevented the Holocaust in Auschwitz, we could have prevented the Srebrenica massacre," said Grand Mufti of Bosnia Mustafa Ceric

Grand Mufti [religious leader of Sunni Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina] Reisu-l-ulema Dr. Mustafa Ceric visited the Auschwitz concentration camp on 1 February 2011. He prayed for the victims and called for the World to sympathize with the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and prevent future genocides. He also condemned all forms of racism, including antisemitism and islamophobia.

"We need to learn about the holocaust and genocide not only as of historical facts but also as a means to teach our children about the dangers of racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other examples of human intolerance," Dr. Ceric said.

"We must teach younger generations to appreciate democracy and human rights and encourage them to reject hatred, intolerance and ethnic conflicts so that "never again" is really true, so that neither Auschwitz nor Srebrenica ever happen again."

PHOTO: Dr. Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Holocaust survivor Ida Grinspan of France, during their visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp on 1st February 2011.