UNITED NATIONS, JANUARY 25 (PTI)The United Nations General Assembly commemorated the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps, symbol of the holocaust that slaughtered at least six million Jews and others in the World War II, resolving not to let it happen ever again.
Turning to more recent cases of genocide in Cambodia, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, UN Secretary General Annan said "On ccasions such as this, rhetoric comes easily. We rightly say "never again." But several speakers, including Annan lamented that the world has not learnt the lesson from the tragedy.

"It is a day to remember not only victims of the past horrors who the world abandoned but also potential victims of present and future ones," Annan said yesterday.

"If the world had listened, we may have prevented Darfur, Cambodia, Bosnia and naturally Rwanda," said Nobel Laureate author and a death camp survivor Elie Wiesel.

The commemoration came three days before the actual anniversary of liberation by the Soviet troops in 1945 of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, the largest death camp. On Thursday, being observed as "Holocaust Memorial Day," the leaders would attend the ceremonies in Poland.
Yesterday's session began with one minute silence to remember the victims. Earlier in the morning Annan and his wife Nane hosted a coffee reception for the death camp survivors including Wiesel.

Among more than 40 speakers at the session were foreign ministers of Israel, Germany, France, Canada, Argentina, Armenia and Luxembourg.