UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned against all forms of hate at a ceremony marking the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.
In his remarks delivered at Park East Synagogue in New York o Saturday, the UN chief said that "as I scan the global landscape today, I am sorry to say that the state of our world is messy. And the state of hate is high," Xinhua news agency reported.
"Neo-Nazi threat is growing," he noted.
"Almost 80 years after the fall of the Nazi regime, its symbols, mindsets and language are very much with us," said Guterres.
"Some still seek to deny or diminish the fact of the Holocaust. Others downplay the complicity of their citizens and former political leaders," he said.
"And we see example after example of the rise of the neo-Nazi threat," he warned.
Guterres said that "all of us today have a special obligation.
An obligation to never lose sight of what went wrong and how it happened."
He also called upon the international community to "be ever vigilant in the face of persistent anti-Semitism and other forms of hate in our time."
Guterres told the gathering that anti-hate organizations are now tracking hundreds of pro-Nazi and other such groups.
"With just a little research, we were able to quickly identify 65 groups in 25 countries. These are located not just in Europe and North America but in every region of the world," he said.
Their followers, and the "likes" they receive on social media, number in the tens of thousands, he said.
"Sixty thousand people marched recently in one country in support of the continent's far right movements, with placards reading 'White Europe' and 'Clean Blood,'" he continued.
According to the UN chief, the neo-Nazi group called "Combat 18" has re-emerged, including through a concert in a European country attended by thousands. "A recent far right march, called 'Revolt Against the Traitors' by the participants, sought to march near a synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar."
"Last year, hundreds of neo-Nazis gathered to mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Rudolf Hess, one of Hitler's leading associates," he warned.
"Let us work together to build a world of pluralism, mutual respect and coexistence for all," the secretary-general concluded.
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