The international Holocaust and other crimes against humanity commemoration day ceremony has been held in Estonia since 2003. This year the Government of Estonia was represented by the Minister of Culture Heidy Purga who said in her speech that as much as we hope for a better future, we will never forget the victims of the Holocaust. She called for remembering and standing together against evil.

Ambassador David Král, as Doyen of the Diplomatic Corps, also delivered a speech where, among other things, he highlighted the need to educate schoolchildren towards tolerance and critical thinking: „Children need to be taught that there is a strength in diversity, within the limits of the rule of law. And they also need to understand that those who belong to a particular race, religion or any other group cannot be held responsible for our problems on the sole fact of belonging to such a group. The concept of a collective guilt has to be erased from our dictionary once and for good.“

In addition to Ambassador Král, the First Secretary and Consul of the Embassy of Israel, Moriah Kollender, and the Chairwoman of the Estonian Jewish Community, Alla Jakobson, gave a speech at the ceremony. A prayer was given by the Chief Rabbi in Estonia Shmuel Kot.