Wednesday, January 18, 2023–The European Jewish Congress has expressed its concern and dismay following comments today by Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov comparing Western governments’ support for Ukraine to Hitler’s Final Solution which resulted in the murder of six million Jews in the Shoah.

Lavrov claimed Wednesday the United States had put together a coalition of European states to solve the “Russian question” in the same way Hitler had organized the Final Solution for Europe’s Jews.

“We are shocked and appalled by this shameful comparison drawn by minister Lavrov between the actions of a coalition of democratic countries and Hitler’s persecution and murder of six million Jews in the Shoah,” EJC president Ariel Muzicant said.

“This is Holocaust distortion at its most basic level and we call on Mr. Lavrov to unequivocally apologize and withdraw these comments,” he added.

Lavrov claimed the West is “waging war against our country with the same task: the ‘Final Solution’ of the Russian question.”

“This is not the first time the minister has used Holocaust equivalence and Hitler references,” Musicant pointed out. “This must stop. As we mark in the coming days International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the day that the Red Army liberated Auschwitz, the memory of Holocaust victims must never be used in such an appalling manner.”

Full EJC statement here.