President Roberta Metsola opened the ceremony, which also marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp on 27 January.
“We can never forget, and we must act. Ours is the last generation to have the privilege of knowing Holocaust survivors, and hearing their stories first-hand. Their voices, their courage, their memories are a bridge to a past that must never be forgotten. Because even after the horrors of the Holocaust, antisemitism did not disappear. It persisted. It evolved.
Memory is a duty. A responsibility to ensure that “never again” is not an empty promise.
This European Parliament will always remember. And we will always speak up – just as our first woman President Simone Veil, herself a survivor, taught us to do. Her legacy reminds us that neutrality helps only the oppressor, never the victim. This Parliament will always stand for dignity. For hope. For humanity”, she said. President Metsola’s speech was followed by a musical performance featuring Hermann’s original Gagliano cello.
In her address Corrie Hermann shared the story of how her father, Hungarian composer and cellist Pál Hermann, considered as one of the finest cellists of his time, was murdered by the Nazis in 1944. “This story about one Holocaust victim is dedicated to every one of the six million victims whom we deplore today”, she said.
Ms Hermann recounted her father’s life as a musician, from his education at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest to performing on Europe’s most prestigious stages. After fleeing to Belgium and France, he was arrested in Toulouse in a street raid in April 1944, and transported to Drancy the camp near Paris from where the transports for the concentration camps departed. From there he was deported to the Kaunas concentration camp in Lithuania. While the train was waiting at the station, he managed to throw a note from the train, asking for his Gagliano cello to be saved. The note was found and sent to his brother-in-law, who replaced the Gagliano with a lesser instrument and escaped with the cello strapped to his back. “We don’t know what happened next, but only a handful of the 900 prisoners returned after the war,” she recalled.
Despite his tragic fate, Hermann’s music continues to inspire people across the world. Over 80 years after his death, his Gagliano cello was rediscovered and his compositions have been performed by renowned international artists. “Hitler burned books, destroyed paintings, and murdered millions; but music is invincible,” Corrie Hermann said.
Following the speech, MEPs observed a minute’s silence. The ceremony ended with a musical performance of “Kaddish” by Maurice Ravel.
Watch the ceremony here.
About Pál and Corrie Hermann
Pál Hermann, born on 27 March 1902 in Budapest, was a renowned Hungarian cellist and composer. During the 1920s, he moved to Berlin and performed across Europe on his Gagliano cello. In 1933, Hermann fled to Belgium and later to France. Arrested by the Nazis in Toulouse in 1944, Hermann was then murdered by the Nazis in Lithuania months later.
Corrie (Cornelia) Hermann, born in Amersfoort (The Netherlands) on 4 August 1932, is a retired doctor and former politician. In 1996, she founded the Paul Hermann Fund to support young professional cellists.
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