The crimes of the Holocaust will never be forgiven, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday at the inauguration of a memorial dedicated to the Jewish resistance in Nazi concentration camps and ghettos.
Standing on stage next to oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, the monument sponsor, and Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar, Putin said, "Mass killings of people which turned into an industry are a beastly crime of Nazism that cannot be forgiven.
"Those who voluntarily supported these evil acts also, are not and cannot be forgiven," Putin said.
Vekelsberg, who serves as head of the Russian Federation of Jewish Communities, said, "Today, opening this memorial, we want to commemorate those who personally felt how the Nazi death machine operated but risked fighting for freedom."
Aaron Belsky, one of the remaining resistance fighters, greeted the officials and together with Putin lit candles in front of the memorial wall.
The memorial is a creation of a Russian artist from the city of Saratov, Oleg Fandeyev, and will feature screens showing information about Jewish resistance to Nazism.
