    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [April 21, 1993]
    [Pages 472-474]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at a Reception for the Opening of the United States Holocaust
    Memorial Museum
    April 21, 1993

        Thank you so much for that magnificent statement and for the kind
    introduction. Ladies and gentlemen, Hillary and I and the Vice President
    and Mrs. Gore are deeply honored to welcome

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    all of you here to the White House this afternoon to mark the opening of
    the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
        All of us are honored to be joined by the heads of state of so many
    distinguished nations: of Israel and Portugal, Croatia and Romania,
    Bulgaria and Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, the Slovak
    Republic, Albania and Moldova. These fine people, as you heard, and I
    had a lot of conversations this afternoon and we are a little late, and
    for that I apologize. I do want to say that for a while some of my
    friends in the audience were speculating, as Mandy had to stand up and
    sing again and again, that I was really testing the proposition that he
    has not only the best voice but the strongest lungs in the United States
    of America.
        This afternoon I was interrupted on a couple of occasions to go back
    and work with the Congress in our attempt to create more jobs for the
    American people, but I spent a great deal of time talking to these world
    leaders about things that concern us all and that are very relevant to
    the occasion which has brought all of you here today. I was honored to
    see the President of Israel on this day when we announce the resumption
    of peace talks in the Middle East starting next week. We know this is
    the beginning, not the end of the process; but what a fine day it is to
    begin.
        I was honored to talk with the leaders of these other nations about
    things of profound concern to the Jewish community in America. How can
    we keep democracy alive in Russia and the other republics of the former
    Soviet Union and throughout Eastern Europe? How can we stand against the
    awful principle of ethnic cleansing which has too much currency in the
    world today, given the experiences of so many people in a world so
    recently gone by?
        I want to thank Benjamin Meed, not only for what he said but for
    what he has done. I want to thank Bud Meyerhoff and Bill Lowenberg who
    made a very significant contribution to this week's events through their
    services as Chair and Vice Chair of the Museum Council. I understand
    that we have here in this audience two half-siblings of Raoul
    Wallenberg, Nina Lager and Guy von Dardel. And I want to recognize them
    and all the rest of you whose generosity and dedication and
    determination never to forget has helped make this day a reality. I want
    to recognize the members of the Cabinet and the distinguished Members of
    the United States Congress who are here and thank them for their
    presence and their dedication. Finally, there are many friends of the
    Gores and the Clintons who are here tonight whom I've not seen since the
    election. And I want to thank you and say that we're going to take more
    time shaking hands on the way out than we did on the way in, and I hope
    we'll be able to see all of you.
        We've gathered here to mark the opening of this Holocaust Museum. We
    do so to help ensure that the Holocaust will remain ever a sharp thorn
    in every national memory, but especially in the memory of the United
    States, which has such unique responsibilities at this moment in
    history. We do so to redeem in some small measure the deaths of millions
    whom our nations did not, or would not, or could not save. We do so to
    help teach new generations the dangers of antidemocratic despots, racist
    ideologies, and ethnic hatreds.
        Late Monday night, I walked through the museum with the museum's
    Director, Jeshajahu Weinberg. He did a brilliant job of telling me about
    the incredible work in the relatively brief time of 2 hours and 10
    minutes. And I say that in all seriousness. When the Vice President went
    through the museum, he said, if you go back there you ought to allow at
    least 2 hours so that you can really absorb what you will see and feel.
    I can personally now attest to how darkly it teaches and how deeply it
    moves all who step inside with their ears, their eyes, and their hearts
    open. It is the testament not only to the worst and most depraved
    examples of human conduct but also to the best, the bravest, and the
    most loving in the human soul. I hope that all of you who are here and
    all of the many visitors who come to Washington from now on will take
    the opportunity to visit and be touched by this wonderful place.
        Many of the leaders who join us today are from countries now making
    bold transitions toward democracy, as I have said. As a Nation that's
    been struggling with it for more than 200 years now, we understand some
    of the challenges of that transition. Even after 200 years there are
    parts of it we have trouble getting right. The Holocaust Museum will
    stand as a stark reminder that, of the many tasks of democracy, the most
    imperative perhaps, are those of fostering tolerance for ethnic and
    religious

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    and racial differences, of fostering religious freedom and individual
    right and civic responsibility; each of us to take responsibility for
    the welfare of all of us.
        The event we have joined to commemorate is one of immeasurable
    sorrow; yet today we speak of hope, as others have said. For while the
    faces pictured within the museum remind us of the worst of an old
    Europe, the faces I see within this tent suggest the best of a new
    Europe and a new world: a Europe no longer divided by ideology, no
    longer braced for all-consuming war, where freedom is replacing
    repression, where people can devote less of their resources to
    preparation for hostilities and more for investment for prosperity. We
    know, of course, that the new Europe is not yet free of old cruelties
    and that contemporary horrors like the slaughter of innocents in Bosnia
    have not disappeared. Indeed, one of the eternal lessons to which this
    museum bears strong witness is that the struggle against darkness will
    never end and the need for vigilance will never fade away.
        Still, we have grounds to hope that the seeds of democracy in Europe
    will one day soon bear the fruit of a more peaceful civic culture in
    which neighbor no longer lifts up sword against neighbor, within
    countries or across national borders. Our own people have long waited
    and too often have had to fight for that kind of Europe. Now that these
    historic transitions are underway, I want you to know that the United
    States will remain fully engaged in Europe and in its transitions toward
    a new and better future. For, as we vow never to forget the dark days of
    a half-century ago when all humanity fell apart, we can also celebrate
    in this event the process of coming together by rededicating ourselves
    to making sure that the process works, that this time all of us will get
    it right. It is a coming together of Israel and those nations that saw
    much of the worst persecution of the Jews. A coming together of Western
    Europe and Central Europe and Eastern Europe and, indeed, the first
    coming together of those regions ever as democratic states. It is a
    coming together among free peoples determined to confront and remember
    the horrors that befell past generations so that we can create a world
    of justice and peace for our generation and for the children to come.
        I thank all of you for coming here today. But more than that, I
    thank you for living the lives that brought you here today. God bless
    you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 6:43 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to entertainer Mandy Patinkin and
    Benjamin Meed, president, American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust
    Survivors.